Goldsmiths and Lewisham: Shared Histories

'Goldsmiths & Lewisham: Shared Histories' is an exhibition opening this week in New Cross and Deptford with the aim of 'exploring the intertwined histories of Goldsmiths and its local community' via 'an insight into the area as a centre of creative work over the past century'. It will run from 24 April to 3 May 2013 across four sites:  Goldsmiths' New Academic Building and 310 New Cross Road, New Cross Learning, and The Albany in Deptford.

The collaborative exhibition has organised by the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, in partnership with the Goldsmiths Art Collections and the Lewisham Local History Society, with funding from Arts & Humanities Research Council Cultural Engagement Fund. I am looking forward to it - both Goldsmiths and the Lewisham Local History Society have extensive archives which they don't have the space to publically display. The four parts of the exhibition are as follows:

- 'The New Pastoralists: A selection of etchings from the Goldsmiths Collection, inspired by the Romantic artist Samuel Palmer, produced by a group of printmakers based at the College in the 1920s. These artists enjoyed great success in that era in which etchings were in high demand, and some stayed on to teach at Goldsmiths for many years. Artists on display include: Edward Bouverie-Hoyton, Paul Drury, William Larkins, Graham Sutherland, and Robin Tanner. On display in the Weston Atrium, lower ground floor, New Academic Building; opening times 11am-6pm'.

'After Work' (1926) by Paul Drury. Drury was born in Brockley in 1903, attended Goldsmiths in the 1920s and later taught there, becoming the Principal for a period in the 1960s.  He was one of the artists in the 1920s  associated what became  known as the Goldsmiths School or New Pastoralists, who made prints influenced by the work of Samuel Palmer (who grew up off the Old Kent Road). They were initially inspired by 'Fred Richards, a tutor at Goldsmiths, [who] had given a lecture, with slides, on 19th century etching, which included Palmer’s ‘Herdsman’s Cottage'. The best known of the artists from this group was Graham Sutherland (see example of his work from The Dark Monarch exhibition).

- 'Art, Education, Activism: Artefacts drawn from Goldsmiths' holdings of the Rachel McMillan College collection, emphasising the local work of Margaret and Rachel McMillan [see previous Transpontine post], activists at the turn of the century who were highly influential in state provision for the education of children, and Goldsmiths' inheritance of this legacy. This installation will also include a pop-up reading room, and additional works related to Goldsmiths' active history in the promotion of arts education. On display at 310 New Cross Road; opening times 11am-6pm.

- Lewisham Life: Making & Using: A jointly-curated installation by the Lewisham Local History Society that draws from the Borough's history as a manufacturing centre, integrating objects that were made here into a thematic display based on daily life here, addressing the home, work, and leisure. On display at New Cross Learning, 283-285 New Cross Road; opening times Tues 10am-5pm, Wed-Thurs 10am-7pm, Sat 10am-5pm.

- Made in New Cross: A snapshot of the present with a theatrical installation of a selection of works acquired through the annual Warden's Art Purchase Prize made by Goldsmiths students that have studied and worked as cohabitants of the Lewisham community. On display at The Albany, Douglas Way, Deptford; opening times Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-3pm'.