Walking into Valence House’s education room on Thursday was a joyful experience. On the walls were images of dancing crowds and mud-covered carnival revellers. Absorbed faces peered into computer screens as people got a chance to learn some DJ-ing skills – and it was truly accessible to all ages thanks to the equipment artist Gary Stewart brought along, which enabled toddlers to superimpose images on each other and flip images of dancing feet upside down and back again at the twiddle of a dial or the press of a button.
While on the other side of the room, PPP Associate Director Sylvan Baker was deep in conversation with more mature residents who were excited by the potential for telling some little-known stories of the estate’s life and history.
This was launch of The Becontree Hundred, a project that will bring Barking & Dagenham residents together with Brazilian photographer Adriano Rodrigues and digital artist Gary Stewart in a series of free photography and digital media workshops between March and April. During the project, the group will create 100 new photographs to represent life on the Becontree Estate nowadays, and the images will be included in a multimedia exhibition to celebrate local stories.
“It was so refreshing to see young children enticing their parents on to the machines”, recalls Gary. “We are hoping for this to be a family experience as well and today proved to be and amazing taste of what’s next for Becontree 100”. Gary is an experimental musician and visual artist, who has produced visual installations for numerous ground-breaking events such as The Dubstep Chronicles, Tate Tanks, and Big Chill and in countries including Brazil, Colombia, Bulgaria and Martinique.
From March 2nd, Brazilian photographer Adriano Rodrigues will be giving free workshops as well, which are open to people all ages and families are more than welcome.
There are lots of free activities available and various ways in which people can get involved: do you know a place or person we should photograph? Have you always wanted to know more about how photographers choose and compose their pictures? Wanna be a VJ? Check below our schedule for the first weeks, subscribe to our Facebook page for updates, and if you’d like to join our workshops, write us at [email protected].
Produced by People’s Palace Projects, the Becontree Hundred is a Landmark Commission from Creative Barking and Dagenham, with the support of Arts Council England, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Sylvia Waddilove Foundation UK and Queen Mary, University of London.
About Gary Stewart
Gary Stewart is an experimental sonic and visual artist based in London, UK. With artist Trevor Mathison, he is part of Dubmorphology, makers of art installations that examine the relationship between culture, history and technology. As Bantu, he performs with bassist Aniruddha Das in Dubnoiz Sound System, exploring the outer limits of improvised bass, noise and distortion. Formerly Head of Multimedia at Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts) between 1995 and 2011, he is currently Associate Artist at People’s Palace Projects: an arts and social justice organisation based at Queen Mary, University of London.
About Adriano Rodrigues
Adriano Ferreira Rodrigues, who trained at Rio’s “Observatory of the Favelas”, is a dynamic photographer with a wide-?ranging portfolio of poignant and hard–hitting images of Favela life, carnivals, music concerts, political or military enforcement, landscapes, and portraits of Brazilian people. His focus on social documentary means that his work captures the political, cultural and personal aspects of the environments he explores.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/af_rodrigues
Photography workshop schedule
3rd March
Taster Sessions in VJ’ing and Photography at Dagenham Library. 1 Church Elm Lane, Dagenham RM10 9QS
VJ Sessions 10.30 – 12.00 & 12.30 – 14.00 Photography sessions 14.30 – 16.00 & 16.30 – 18.00
9th March
Photography Workshop with Adriano at Park Centre Rectory Road, Dagenham RM10 9SA
Session: 17.00 – 20.00 Come and learn more about photographic styles and technique
10th – 13th March
10.30 – 18.30 Daily Location photography around the Becontree Estate with Adriano.
Meeting at 10.30 Park Centre Rectory Road, Adriano and the participants take shots on locations around the estate.
14th March
Photo Review session at Park Centre Rectory Road, Dagenham RM10 9SA
13.00 – 17.00 Adriano and group review work collected that week and decide image shortlist.
16th March
Photography workshop with Adriano at Park Centre Rectory Road, Dagenham RM10 9SA.
Session 17.00 – 20.00. Come and learn more about photographic styles and technique
17th – 20th March
10.30 – 18.30 Daily Location photography around the Becontree Estate with Adriano.
Meeting at 10.30 Park Centre Rectory Road, Adriano and the participants take shots on locations around the estate.
21st March
Review session
13.00 – 17.00 Adriano and participants review their work collected this week and decide image shortlist.
23rd March
Photography workshop with Adriano at Park Centre Rectory Road, Dagenham RM10 9SA.
Session 17.00 – 20.00. Come and learn more about photographic styles and technique
24th – 27th March
10.30 -18.30 Daily Location photography around the Becontree Estate.
Meeting at 10.30 Park Centre Rectory Road, Adriano and the participants take shots on locations around the estate.
29th March
B100 Celebration
14.00 – 17.00 Participants meet to celebrate their achievements and share ideas and task for the exhibition building cycle
Multimedia/VJ workshop schedule
3rd March
Taster Sessions in VJ’ing and Photography at Dagenham Library. 1 Church Elm Lane, Dagenham RM10 9QS
VJ Sessions 10.30 – 12.00 & 12.30 – 14.00 Photography sessions 14.30 – 16.00 & 16.30 – 18.00
14th/15th March
Intensive Multimedia workshop weekend at Park Centre. Rectory Road, Dagenham RM10 9SA
10.00 – 18.00 Saturday and Sunday (participants can attend for as long or as little as they wish.)
16th – 20th March
Daily Multimedia workshops at Park Centre. Rectory Road, Dagenham RM10 9SA.
Session times 17.00 – 20.00
21st/22nd March
Intensive Multimedia workshop weekend at Park Centre. Rectory Road, Dagenham RM10 9SA
10.00 – 18.00
Saturday and Sunday (participants can attend for as long or as little as they wish.)
23rd – 27th March
Daily Multimedia workshops at Park Centre. Rectory Road, Dagenham RM10 9SA.
Session times 17.00 – 20.00
28th March [Note Sunday only]
Intensive Multimedia workshop at Park Centre. Rectory Road, Dagenham RM10 9SA
10.00 – 18.00
Sunday (Participants can attend for as long or as little as they wish.)
29th March
B100 Celebration!
14.00 – 17.00 Participants meet to celebrate their achievements and share ideas and task for the exhibition building cycle
30th March -8th April
Installation and exhibition are prepared for mounting.
9th April
Exhibition Preview for selected guests and friends/family of participants
10th April
Becontree 100 Photographic and Digital Exhibition opens!!!!
