Post-Grad Mixer: South London Gallery by Chalisa Intisarn
- Written byPost-Grad Community
- Published date 31 March 2022
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South London Gallery Post-Grad Mixer report by Chalisa Intisarn, MA Service Design, London College of Communication (LCC), and UAL Post-Grad Community Ambassador
On the 23rd of March, a group of UAL's Post-Grad Community visited South London Gallery to discover exhibitions and hear about an opportunity for post-grad students. It has been a warm and sunny week in London; signalling that the winter is finally over. It was a great opportunity to discover what this city has to offer.
Exploring South London Gallery
South London Gallery is located only steps away from Camberwell College of Art. There are two buildings: the main building and the fire station. These two are located across the road from each other. The Gallery’s focus is on presenting and featuring the latest work by British and international artists who have never had their work displayed in London before! The gallery works with local organisations to organise various types of exhibitions.
When we entered the old fire station, we could still witness the old original fireplace on the wall upon our entry. The building was established back in 1891. Firefighters and their 8 families had lived in this building. The station has now turned into four galleries. One of the exhibitions was ‘Shut the Club Down’. The theme was exploring dance music and nightlife culture in 1990s Peckham and Camberwell through two nightclubs: Lazerdrome (a venue for 2,500 people) and Imperial Gardens (known for kick-starting the music and literary careers of up-and-coming artists in London). Within the exhibition, you can put on headphones and imagine yourself at a 90’s party and allow yourself to learn the history of the area by looking at old newspapers.
The galley on the second floor displayed a work of Celine Condorelli, in collaboration with architect Johnny Cullinan and the children and residents of the area. They designed a new playground under the themes of labour, play and public space. The artist expressed the aim to connect the gallery space with the outside world through the work.
At the main building, we entered a big gallery displaying a short film by Alice Theobald called ‘IL Y AURA (There will be)’, based in a Parisian apartment. A younger woman came into an older man’s home for a language lesson, but then things got interesting. This film sparked among us many thoughts and conversations around the interpretation of the film.
Opportunity for artists: South London Gallery Postgraduate Residency
A six-month live-in residency, open submission programme for artists in their early career to live in rent-free accommodation plus bursary and studio space to create their work and an opportunity for a solo exhibition! The residency is for artists who have undertaken a period of self-directed, peer-led or postgraduate study. Are you interested? Get in touch with the gallery.
Chit-Chatting over dinner
After walking around the gallery, we headed to a restaurant (my favourite part of the event!) and sat down to reflect with my new friends on what we had just seen. The conversations were about the tour at the gallery, and our sharing of different expertise and disciplines within the creative industry. We talked a lot about arts and culture. It was a good opportunity to meet and mingle with other post-grads from other colleges, recent or not, whom I otherwise might not have had a chance to meet. Everyone came together with positive energy, ready to talk and laugh. I think that the Mixer events are one of the best ways to make the most out of being a post-grad student in London. We didn’t want the evening to end too quickly, so some of us decided to head to a bar for some drinks later. All in all, It was really great to finish up this term with a good day at the gallery visit which turned out to be a night of memories! Hope to see you at the next Mixer!
Related links
UAL Post-Grad Community
Established in 2013, Post-Grad Community is an inclusive platform for all UAL postgraduate students to share work, find opportunities and connect with other creatives within the UAL and beyond. Find out more
Post-Grad Stories
A thriving online magazine of our postgraduate student voices sharing thought-provoking experiences, practices, thoughts and articles about what matters to them.
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Want to write an article? Get in touch with the Post-Grad Community team PGCommunity@arts.ac.uk