London Stories at Battersea Arts Centre (Photo: NASA)
When: 4th – 26th November 2016
Where: Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN
£: Tickets cost £10-£15
What is it?
London Stories: Made by Migrants is a festival of true stories that engages with the ongoing public conversation about migration.
During the festival, more than 30 people will share their personal stories of moving to London from elsewhere in the UK, or from overseas. People who have moved for a multitude of reasons, including for work, for study, for love, as well as those fleeing war and persecution.
The festival returns, following the success of Battersea Arts Centre’s first London Stories in 2013, with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Led by a guide, audience groups of five will go on a journey to hear a selection of six stories from people for whom London has become their second home. From the rooftop terrace to the basement bedrooms, routes will traverse newly refurbished swathes of the building, open to the public for the first time.
Storytellers taking part in the festival will include Richard, who spent a large part of his childhood in Jamaica, living apart from his parents whilst they raised funds to reunite the family in London. Audiences will also hear from student Thady, who was left by the roadside in China as a baby and adopted by a Northern Irish couple, and Eiad, who fled Syria in 2012 and began the long and treacherous journey to seek refuge in the UK.
Collectively, these stories paint a fragment of a vast tableau of lives and experiences lived in London today; reminding us of the city’s rich history of migration, and of our shared desire to survive and thrive.
London Stories: Made by Migrants spearheads the new BAC Moving Museum programme that explores and brings to life heritage in the borough of Wandsworth and beyond. BAC Moving Museum activities aim to connect people with the past through engaging and remarkable stories that stir emotions. The programme encompasses work with libraries, schools, families, heritage groups and a national network of local history museums.
For London Stories: Made by Migrants Battersea Arts Centre will become a living museum of storytellers’ experiences accompanied by an installation of hand-picked personal objects that connect to each story.
London Stories: Made by Migrants will transform the front of Battersea Arts Centre’s building into a continuous performance environment, incorporating all manner of spaces such as dressing rooms, offices and alcoves.
More info: www.bac.org.uk