“We Are Here Because You Were There” Reflections and artistic responses to the LSE Library archive.
Join us at the LSE Alumni Centre for a powerful showcase of new artwork created by three artists with lived experience, Amerah Saleh, Bengy Speer & Gemma Lees; developed in collaboration with Arts & Homelessness International and LSE Library. Drawing from the Library’s archives and special collections, these co-produced pieces explore homelessness through personal and historical lenses. The evening will include an opportunity to see the artistic responses to the archive, meet the artists, curators, and archivists involved in the project, and a reception to celebrate the artists and their work. This project is supported by LSE Library and the LSE Homelessness Initiative.
This collaborative project between LSE Library and Arts & Homelessness International (AHI) invited three artists with lived experience of homelessness to explore and respond to the Library’s archives. From Victorian-era Poor Laws to modern-day oral histories, the archives revealed powerful — and often overlooked — stories of homelessness in the UK.
Through a series of creative workshops, the artists worked alongside LSE staff, curators/archivist and a Homelessness Facilitator, Gill Taylor, to develop new artworks that reflect on historical materials and personal experiences. The project was co-produced from start to finish, ensuring the voices of people affected by homelessness were central.
The final works will be shared at this public event, designed to spark conversation and raise awareness of homelessness, inequality, and representation in the archive.
Agenda
Doors open: 6pm
Welcome and artists talks: 6.15pm to 7.15pm
Art & Archive exploration: 7.15pm to 8pm
Light refreshements will be available.
The British Library of Political and Economic Science (@LSELibrary) was founded in 1896, a year after the London School of Economics and Political Science. It has been based in the Lionel Robbins Building since 1978 and houses many world class collections, including the Women's Library and Hall-Carpenter Archives.
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