Tolu Elusadé is a Nigerian Londoner, visual artist, and curator of accessible and reflective creative spaces. They use analogue photography and poetry as creative mediums, documenting, archiving, and preserving ideas cultivated from both personal and shared experiences. Through their imagery and literature, they illuminate the magic of anthropology, highlighting the delicate and nuanced ways in which they choose to navigate the complexities of existence. By connecting intergenerational communities with art activism, they work to preserve aural and tangible histories through authentic creation.
This image encapsulates the ethos of my practice, signifying the power of culture, community & creative collaboration. The juxtaposition of the black zipped up puffer against the softness and intricacy of the needle threading into the vibrancy of the materials highlights the essence of South London. Taken in Peckham Square earlier this summer for Peckham Platform’s Memories of the Future project, where community members were invited to create collaboratively and enjoy fresh fruit and homemade food and share their memories of the area. Photographing these projects always fills me with so much hope and gratitude as I get the chance to truly connect with others intergenerationally while deepening the purpose of my artwork.
This work by Tolu Elusadé is part of Memories for the Future, a hyperlocal and community-led programme that researches and responds to the intangible heritage of the people who shaped Peckham’s iconic Rye Lane. Building on several years of working closely with our community partners including elders from Golden Oldies and Neruzi as well young people from the local area through organisations such as Leaders of Tomorrow, Southwark Youth Justice Service, South London Refugee Association and Inspire Walworth we have co-commissioned programmes that respond to and reflect local needs, concerns and ambitions for the area around heritage, reclaiming public spaces and intergenerational skills development. Our starting point is Rye Lane’s “Aunties”; the women business leaders who exemplify the realities of migration into Britain and the experience of rebuilding lives as part of a diaspora. Memories for the Future works to cherish and learn from these at risk histories which elucidate Britain’s complex relationships with the rest of the world, and the foundational influence of these women on the communities living/working on Rye Lane.
Memories for the Future is made possible with funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund, United St Saviours and the London Borough of Southwark’s Culture Together, Neighbourhoods and Cultural Celebrations funds and generous support from Arts Council England.
