Over the course of four weeks from 3 – 24 July 2021, Peckham Palms hosted The Message We Bring, forming a space for celebration, performance and workshops with local artists and creators.
Sound artist, DJ and producer A.G. ran workshops with young people and elders from Peckham to gather sounds, voices and stories from the COVID-19 pandemic, including members of Leaders of Tomorrow, Golden Oldies, Black Heroes Foundation and Peckham Park Baptist Church.
Artist Birungi Kawooya ran workshops in the technique of making simple but impactful collages with African print fabric.
Peckham and Madrid based artist Chisara performed an acoustic set with dub-inspired, jazz, hip-hop and indie rock elements.
The Resolve Collective created a Pop-Up Library celebrating memories of togetherness and hopes for the future with passers-by. Material focused on peoples’ stories and recollections of Peckham and was generated through story-recording activities such as ‘emotional mapping’ using emotional connections to our neighbourhoods as a way of understanding the city, and ‘DIY phonographing’ using readily available materials from the home to create makeshift, physical recording devices.
The resulting soundscape, titled The Message We Bring, weaves audio into a playlist of music selected by Peckham communities along with experimental recordings and beats.
The Message We Bring was part of Tilting the Mirror, a three-year project led by The Peckham Partnership that sought to ‘tilt the mirror’ on negative perceptions of Peckham by platforming those who often struggle to be heard in the process of regeneration.
