Flatness

Oasis Residency: Flatness

September 2022 — April 2023

Flatness were Oasis residents at Forma HQ and Peveril Gardens during Autumn and Winter 2022/23. The residency invited socially engaged practitioners to develop and deliver a cultural programme that strengthens the bridge between FormaHQ and our local communities. Oasis takes its name from the research and conversations initiated by the lead creatives in the redevelopment of Peveril Gardens and FormaHQ. Flatness responded to a brief for a cultural programme that embraced Kuri’s vision of an oasis – a safe place where creatives and local residents can take part in cultural activities and enjoy the benefits of Peveril Gardens. Read our legacy document here.

For Oasis, Flatness (comprising founder, Shama Khanna, in collaboration with Beth Bramich and a network of contributors) curated a short cultural programme to build on Queer Diasporic Futurity, a book project produced in partnership with not/nowhere artist workers’ co-op and published by Social Art Publications in July 2022. Queer Diasporic Futurity (QDF) brought together themes of redistributing power, intersectional resistance and healing. The project found new ways of working, IRL and in print, using publishing as a pause and ongoing process to reflect on relationships, communities, collaboration and interdependence.

Events

Swap Shop
14 January 2023, 10-4pm

Early in 2023, Flatness organised a swap shop, inspired by a desire observed in the garden for offering useful items that were no longer needed. Visitors brought clothes, homeware, books, kids’ clothes and toys, plants and seeds, art materials, skills and knowledge to swap or donate. Jack Jeans hosted a knowledge exchange about regenerative gardening and brought seed bombs for visitors to spread around the local area. He also donated a series of handmade insect homes to Peveril Gardens for bees and other invertebrates to nest in. Southwark Notes shared information and materials from all the recent local struggles and gathered responses through informal chats around the question of what do we mean when we say ‘Community’?

This was followed by a screening of ‘El Sentir de las Montañas’ [The Feel of the Mountains, 2022] by filmmaker Tomás Fernandez Vértiz, which presents interactions with three Latin American Londoners and the different situations that they and other Latin American people are experiencing in the UK, including communities local to FormaHQ in New Cross.

(Scroll to the end of the page for documentation)

February Half Term Events
14 & 18 February 2023, 12-3pm

Flatness hosted a series of activities, workshops and tours focused on gardening, making, voicing, reusing and skill sharing.

Winter Wellness Workshop

Ali Yellop guided us to create our own medicinal body balms, which can aid in soothing chesty coughs, as well as achy joints and bones. Loose herbs were also offered for making winter wellness tea bag blends.

Sign-making for the Garden

A drawing and sign-painting activity exploring how we inhabit the garden together, led by design team Design Print Bind. Together we thought about how we can welcome all kinds of life into Peveril Gardens.

Peveril Gardens Tours

Local gardener Richard Court led introductions to Peveril Gardens every hour, sharing knowledge about how to identify plants and the work that goes into maintaining this rooftop oasis. Learn more about the garden and how to get involved.

Outfitting Session Hosted by artists Hannah le Feuvre and Ulijona Odišarija

Outfitting was an invitation to clear out closets and bring old and unwanted clothes and accessories to make new outfits together. This was an afternoon of swapping, donating and styling old and new garments, sharing styling tips and telling each other how good we look in a comfortable and safe environment.

The session included food and music and mending tools were available to sort out any holes and rips on the go.

Creative Writing Workshop with Babylon Migrant Project
26th April, 5–7pm

This creative writing workshop was for migrants who want to try writing about their experiences. Co-hosted by Babylon Migrant Project and facilitated by Erica Masserano, it was open to complete beginners and people who enjoy storytelling.

Steve & Samantha EP Launch
29 April 2023, from 6pm

Flatness and Presse Books hosted a gig by Steve & Samantha to celebrate the launch of their new EP ‘Better is Better’ and the culmination of Flatness’s residency. Ulijona Odišarija (one half of Steve & Samantha alongside James Lowne) is a long-standing contributor to Flatness and co-hosted the Outfitting event in February.

The EP is available to listen on all streaming platforms, including bandcamp.

Contributor bios

Alexandra Yellop is a community grower whose long-term vision is to empower communities towards food sovereignty and encourage people to spend time in communion with The Land. Ancestral land practices and reverence is at the centre of her work.

She currently teaches workshops & curates educational programmes for community projects and organisations.

@tallawah_ali

Design Print Bind is the studio partnership between graphic designers Flaminia Rossi and Samantha Whetton. They specialise in the design and production of books and other printed matter, working in a way that is hands-on and practically experimental. Alongside those specialties they make websites and teach letterpress and bookbinding skills. Recently they worked with Flatness on the Queer Diasporic Futurity book and have produced all the design for their Fellowship at Forma.

designprintbind.info

Orange and cream motif of Peveril Gardens by Design Print Bind

Ulijona Odišarija is a Lithuanian-Georgian artist based in London. She works with video, photography, objects and words and makes music with her band Steve & Samantha.

Hannah Le Feuvre born in the UK, lives and works in London. She is sometimes an artist, currently interested in textiles, collage, poetry and photography.