As part of our In Living Memory project we are taking over the We Are Lewisham space in Lewisham Shopping Centre to create an inclusive LGBTQ+ exhibition and social space.
For more information visit Exhibition page
For project updates:
https://www.instagram.com/storiesbijou/
Avant-Gardening’s Bijou Stories project is delighted to have been selected for ‘In Living Memory’, a London Borough of Culture 2022, We Are Lewisham, heritage initiative, in partnership with Goldsmiths.
In Living Memory celebrates Lewisham’s diversity and heritage for London Borough of Culture 2022. It empowers Lewisham’s communities to tell their own stories, presenting them through traditional means as well as artistic and cultural activities and events.
Seven community-led projects selected from around 70 expressions of interest will be supported to undertake primary research into their chosen topic, gathering the memories of local people and sharing them through striking cultural activities that unfold across 2022.
Where to, now the sequins have gone? by Bijou Stories
This project will uncover the histories of Lewisham’s lost gay venues that thrived from the 1970s – 90s by gathering the memories and stories of the people who created informal communities responding to social and political challenges, the AIDS crisis and other issues that affected the LGBTQ+ in the borough.
Get involved
Did you used to drink in The Castle, The Fountain, Goldsmiths Tavern or Queens Arms? Did an evening in the pub stretch out to a late night at the Roebuck or the Arizona in Catford? We would love to hear from you!
We will be recording people’s stories to include in a podcast to be released in the autumn and creating an oral history to preserve these valuable memories. Contact Paul stories@avantgardening.info for more information. In September you will be able to drop in to our Where To pop-up space in Lewisham Shopping Centre to share your memories.
Throughout the project we will be bringing the stories out into public spaces and working with LGBTQ+ organisations in the borough to start an inter-generational dialogue.
Bijou Stories 