The London Festival of Architecture (LFA) 2023 has launched a cinema in a disused space in Brixton for June, running a programme of films celebrating Brixton’s rich history and cultural heritage.

‘Views on the Atlantic’, from Brixton Community Cinema with Bamidele Awoyemi, Farouk Agoro and Livia Wang, forms a series of cinema installations at Atlantic Road and Windrush Square. Throughout LFA2023 the sites will be used as places for evening cinema screenings, exhibitions, and other programme activities; during the day, both sites will be places for ‘gathering, education and artistic expression’, along with a series of learning workshops.

The transformation of the public space allows for a cinema screening programme running throughout June, with displays of archival photography and film gathered from local organisations and archives such as Lambeth Archives, Ritzy Cinema and Black Cultural Archives. The interventions will also have a varied input from local creatives and international community cinemas.

Programme

The film programme is curated collectively with a variety of individuals and collectives working at the intersection of culture and social justice. They were asked to choose a film they would like to share with the public with this year’s LFA theme of ‘In Common’ in mind.

Events will be programmed by South London based groups such as Pan-Asian arts collective Baesianz, and curatorial duo Languid Hands, as well as collaborators from north of the river such as The Mosaic Rooms: a non-profit art gallery and bookshop. These are complemented by films selected by cinema clubs and organisations across the world, from Brooklyn’s Alfreda’s Cinema, to Archives DZ which works to digitalise Algeria’s film archives, to Ciné-Archives, the extensive moving image collection of the French Communist Party. Also invited are groups doing pioneering work with and around architecture and the built environment, such as Paris-based publication The Funambulist, and Goldsmith’s Centre for Research Architecture. The Brixton Community Cinema team and designers behind bafalw will also be hosting film nights, with additional proposals picked from an open call for Lambeth residents.

On weekends during the daytime, local arts organisations such as The Stuart Hall Library, Em—Dash Press, and Prajñā Bookshop will take over the space presenting a pop-up library of their archives for the public to browse.

The programme was launched on 9 June with a screening of ‘AfroShorts’, curated by renowned Director Akinola Davies Jr and founder of Minute Shorts, Janvier Wete. Audience immersed themselves in awe-inspiring narratives, diverse storytelling styles, and thought-provoking perspectives from emerging Pan-African filmmakers.

Both installations will be in place with the programme running until 2 July 2023.

On 10 June and 11 June Atlantic Road was closed to vehicle traffic as part of a car free day supported by Lambeth Council’s Big Shift Programme, Brixton BID and LFA. The normally busy road was transformed to provide space where people could sit, socialise and take part in activities.

‘Views on the Atlantic’ was the winner of design competition ‘People at the Centre of Brixton’, launched by LFA in partnership with Lambeth Council and Brixton BID in March this year. ‘Views on the Atlantic’ was selected from a shortlist of six, compiled from over 30 entrants. The competition aimed to encourage people to Brixton’s public realm, sparking discussion and debate about the role that historical common land plays in our urban environment.

Brixton forms an official LFA Destination, which will see a number of events taking place within the area. Events explore the theme of ‘In Common’ from every perspective, reflecting both on what we share and the differences in our lived experiences. The LFA programme explores the architecture which has shaped Brixton, the legacies of colonialism in the public realm and people’s histories of Brixton, explored through walks, workshops, family events, screenings and more. LFA also coincides with the 75th Anniversary of HMT Empire Windrush arriving in Britain and the 25th anniversary of the naming of Windrush Square; the Brixton programme acknowledges and celebrates this distinctive legacy. The Destination is supported by the London Borough of Lambeth and Brixton BID.