London Borough of Culture 2022
Lewisham was named London Borough of Culture for 2022, delivering a year-long programme of activities that place culture at the heart of their communities.
Lewisham was awarded £1.35m of funding to deliver We Are Lewisham, a festival of creative events, community engagement and cultural opportunities.
Goldsmiths was a key partner in the successful bid and proposed a series of contributions reflecting our central role in the borough’s cultural life for over 100 years.
In Living Memory
Supported by funding from Lewisham Borough of Culture and the Heritage Lottery Fund, local people collaborated with researchers and creative practitioners from Goldsmiths to tell a new story of Lewisham’s recent past, in their own words.
A series of community-led projects were selected from around 70 expressions of interest. They have been supported to undertake primary research into their chosen topic, gathering the memories of local people and developing them into striking cultural activities, unfolded across 2022.
In Living Memory academic lead, Dr John Price, and author, Prof Francis Spufford, discuss his novel Light Perpetual at the launch event
Attendees watch a film installation ‘Fifteen Years Later (The Kiss)’ by artist Daniel Greenfield-Campoverde
High Streets Business Engagement
Goldsmiths was awarded a contract with Lewisham Council to support high street businesses to participate in the Borough of Culture programme.
In the first stage of the project, 520 High Street Businesses were visited by Goldsmiths staff and students and encouraged to apply for a small grants fund. Of the business contacted, 111 applications were received.
Businesses who were successful in applying for funding were supported in their participation in the We Are Lewisham programme, ranging from advice on developing cultural activities to translation and linguistic support.
Creative Futures
Creative Futures aims to break down barriers to careers in the creative industries.
The Creative Futures Career Fair, co-organised with Lewisham Council, was held at Goldsmiths in May 2022. It introduced local young people to the creative industries, especially in relation to areas such as creative computing, music, performing arts, and film.
The event brought together local partners such as the Albany, Lewisham College, Trinity Laban Conservatoire and Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance. Partners showcased their work and held workshops around employability and CV skills.
The Creative Futures Careers Fair was held at Goldsmiths in May 2022
Climate Conversations
We are working with Lewisham on a number of projects linking the Climate Conversations programme with Goldsmiths' research expertise, our Green New Deal, and commitments in our Civic University Agreement to work with local partners on addressing the Climate Emergency.
Participants in the Park Life project perform spoken word poetry at Lewisham People's Day
