Shop becomes studio to explore Seven Days in Seven Dials
A temporary exhibition put together by staff from London's major cultural organisations and the team behind the Empty Shops Network's touring project will offer a unique and special exhibition, Seven Days in Seven Dials; a week in the life of London's Culture Quarters.
The staff are all part of the Culture Quarter Programme, a collaboration between nine prestigious arts organisations which are providing 34 young unemployed people between the ages of 18-24, the opportunity to gain six months’ valuable work experience within the cultural and creative sector. The staff are working at Create KX, Design Council, English National Opera, Exhibition Road, The Hospital Club, National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Opera House, Somerset House and the V&A Museum.
Working closely with professional podcasters, photographers and artists, the Culture Quarter Programme participants will spend a week using 18 Shorts Gardens, Seven Dials as a studio. They will produce audio tour podcasts, short videos and exhibition material exploring the history of the local area; the artistic, cultural and historical links between the organisations involved in the project, and individual experiences of the participant’s day-to-day activities within their organisations.
Dan Thompson, one of the innovators behind artistsandmakers.com and perhaps best known as founder of the Empty Shops Network, said; “Our mission is to take art and culture to the high street, using shops and empty spaces as places for experimentation and exploration. This time we'll be bringing podcasters and photographers, writers and illustrators with us, navigating around the magnificent Seven Dials and showing young staff from London's leading cultural institutions a whole new way of working.”
Members of the public are welcome to visit the workshop to watch the participants developing their artwork daily from 10am on Monday 5 July. The exhibition then opens to the public from Saturday 10 July until Friday 23 July 2010. With the inspiration for the exhibition taken from the creative and cultural environment of the Seven Dials area in Covent Garden, this is a wonderful opportunity to generate public awareness of such an historically interesting area and provide opportunities for the young people on the Culture Quarter Programme to express their creativity.
Seven Dials is the perfect location for the exhibition as its rich history, dating back to the late 17th century, is mirrored against the contemporary energy and buzz of modern day Covent Garden. Known to many as Covent Garden’s hidden village, savvy shoppers have already discovered how fashionable the area has become and its ‘quirky’ atmosphere attracts people from all walks of life.
Commenting on the initiative, Property Investment Company and owners of Seven Dials, Shaftesbury PLC’s Clare Harris says: “We believe that the Seven Dials area offers the perfect hub for creative ideas whether it be clothing, art or music so we are pleased to host budding creative talent as part of this innovative exhibition.”
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