Insights into the Mayor’s London Borough of Culture programme: a conversation with Turf Projects
London Borough of Culture can support grassroots organisations to deepen their engagement and broaden their reach. Turf Projects, founded by Croydon residents, is the borough's first artist-run contemporary art space. As they celebrate their 10th anniversary, we spoke to Becky Atherton, Co-Founder and Co-Director, about their new London Borough of Culture project.
Firstly, congratulations on your ten years! Can you tell us about Turf Projects’ work in Croydon?
We have two spaces, one in Centrale Shopping Centre on Keeley Road, now 'Little Turf', and our second is a much larger space in the Whitgift Centre. Within these spaces, we invest time in developing accessible routes to be creative - for artists and different communities. We put on family days, free workshops and exhibitions, school visits and artist feedback sessions. Over the years, we have hosted diverse artists and collectives in our studios, focusing on everything from painting to performance art.
We are the only visual arts gallery space in Croydon, in a rapidly changing environment. Access to spaces to be creative is not as easy as it once was. This makes it is more important for us to carve spaces where art is for everyone and are responsive to community needs.
Stable and consistent places give people a sense of belonging and Turf has provided that for the community, although our long-term future in our units is uncertain. With rapid change, you can risk erasing the collective memory associated with spaces.
Desire Paths, funded by London Borough of Culture, explores how communities and creatives alter their surroundings. Can you tell us more about the project?
Yes, it's a really exciting year for us. We are one of This is Croydon's Culture Hubs, and we have been given funding to run an open call and festival across Croydon called Desire Paths.
A desire path is a route that deviates from the routes imposed by town planning. The project looks at how people can carve their own physical paths.
We want to connect with people and inform them on how decisions are made about spaces and places and how to use art and culture as a vehicle. We aim to encourage creative innovation on our streets while demystifying urban planning processes. When people often hear ‘town planning’ they switch off - we want more people to feel inspired and enthusiastic about the process.