hARTslane
A talk about how a derelict motorbike garage became a welcoming art hub.
Location: 17 Hartslane, New Cross Gate, London SE14 5UP
From peacefully occupying the premises in 2012, to having it registered as an Asset of Community Value in 2013; the frustration of dealing with various officials within Lewisham Council but finding solidarity and help in the artist community.
We will take you through our journey in trying to formalise our stay at the premises, submitting planning applications for making changes and improvements on the outside of the building; the process of community engagement and capital fundraising.
Speaker Biographies
Sigrun Sverrisdottir
Is a building & interior designer. A graduate of Kingston Polytechnic, she works mostly in London and teaches Interior Design at Kingston University.
Sigrun’s interests traverse the fields of art, design and social transformation. Her passion is the art of communicating a building’s potential through drawing, painting, photomontage or any visual means necessary. Often working with vacant, near derelict buildings, the challenge is to explore their potential through sketching, often in charcoal, the way the spaces are animated through daylight.
Being part of the campaign to bring this council property into public use, her focus tends to be on the fabric of the hARTslane building, using her keen interest in sustainability and developing an eco-conscious organisation.
Cristiana Bottigella
Has a degree in History of Contemporary Art (Milan) and an MA in Cultural Policies (London) where she completed a dissertation on leadership and resilience of social enterprises in the cultural sector, which remains one of her main areas of interest. In 2011 she co-founded Bait al Karama, the first women-led Palestinian cookery school in the West Bank, which has brought her to spend long periods of time in the Middle East and to develop a passion for food as political and cultural resistance. Having established and run the artists in residency at the Pistoletto Foundation in Italy for ten years, she has on ongoing interest in the social function of art and in nurturing emerging talents.