“Everyone had different skills, but I’ve heard many stories of people being taught to lay bricks, glaze and plumb. There was a timesheet and members had to give two days a week for several years to get it all done.”
Andrea Davidson, Arts Manager at Chisenhale Art Place, is looking back on the early years of this centre for artists, art production, education, performance and exhibitions. Comprised of Chisenhale Studios, Chisenhale Dance Space and Chisenhale Gallery, the east London venue is holding the +30 Open Weekend from Friday, celebrating how far it has come since its DIY beginnings.
The group of artists and dancers that was to become Chisenhale Art Place actually pre-dates the organisation (hence the +30 celebration), forming in the late 1970s when they faced eviction from their studios in Butler’s Wharf. “Together with X6 contemporary dance space, who also worked in Butler’s Wharf, we formed into small teams to search all over London for empty properties,” explains artist John Fuller, a member of that founding group.
The property they found, Chisenhale Works, had been empty for a number of years and was in a derelict state. It took a two-year renovation project to get the building up and running.
“The period when all the founder members had to work together, pool knowledge and expertise to get the whole enterprise off the ground forged a special feeling and a sense of solidarity and purpose,” says Fuller. “We’ve never had a selection criteria – artists here commit to use the studio space, pursue their work in the way they choose, and when ever possible contribute to the ethos of a self-help project.”
Talks and performances
The programme for the +30 Open Weekend includes a number of talks and performances, with many of the people who have contributed to the success of the project over the years taking part. These include Chisenhale Gallery’s first director, David Thorp, who will host a celebratory lunch, and one-time studio holder, artist and writer Matthew Collings, who will be in conversation with a current studio holder, Gail Pickering. The artists at Chisenhale Studios will also host open studios across the weekend.
“There are a huge variety of events taking place across the building,” says Davidson. “Chisenhale Gallery is holding a special Friday night opening of Nick Relph’s exhibition Tomorrow There is No Recording; throughout the weekend, Studio4 Project Space will be creating a growing timeline of the building including key moments in its history, with local residents invited to bring their photos and memories of the area; and Chisenhale Dance Space is holding a special Sunday community day, complete with a tea time disco to wrap up the weekend.”
While a lot has changed over its 30-plus years, Davidson believes that the organisation holds true to its original ethos – and that this in itself is something worth celebrating. “Each of the three organisations is afforded the space and the freedom to focus on its own remit, within a highly supportive creative space that enables innovation at all levels across the creative spectrum,” she says. “That’s the beauty of Chisenhale Art Place.”
Chisenhale Art Place, +30 Open Weekend, 27-29 September, Friday 6-9pm, Saturday 12-6pm, Sunday 12-5pm. chisenhale.co.uk
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