Brixton DesignTrail kicks off on 19th September for nine days of free events, installations, exhibits and talks showcasing the wealth of home-grown talent the area has to offer. Part of the London Design Festival – held annually to promote creativity in the capital – Brixton DesignTrail will offer a fresh perspective as a design hub with a unique cultural, political and social heritage. These characteristics will inform and influence the week to produce a trail with a distinctly Brixton feel to it. Events will be held in key locations including Brixton Village Market, Pop Brixton, Reliance Arcade, Brixton East 1871 and Black Cultural Archives.
Highlights include the launch of Connect Brixton – a bespoke pattern representing the spirit of Brixton by ‘the Patron Saints of Print’ Eley Kishimoto – which will carpet key locations on the trail including; the Brixton Street Gallery a supersized outdoor exhibition of original works created by local artists on the facades of the former Bon Marche department store, created by architects Squire and Partners; local design studio 2MZ will transform Black Cultural Archives’ courtyard with Pleasure Garden, inspired by the forthcoming Black Georgians exhibition; furniture designer Simon Pengelly will launch the UNNIA chair from his Coldharbour Lane studio; community campus Pop Brixton will host a series of talks and tours; and Passage Tells will offer a site specific audio storytelling experience of traders inside Reliance Arcade.
Enjoy unique and innovative collaborations such as Afro Supa Hero designer Jon Daniels working with independent gift store Diverse to create a display of the character’s evolution; architects CarverHaggard joining forces with social enterprise Hustlebucks to overhaul the Factory shop; neighbourhood restaurant Cornercopia hosting a mini-residency of designer- makers at their Homeware store; and local designer Archie Mac creating the Chronicles of Brixton, a visual display at Phoenix Café which transforms objects local people would save from a fire into kaleidoscopic digital images.
The enterprising spirit of Brixton’s community will be in evidence with Caribbean heritage and vintage fashion plus jewellery at Co-Pop Pavilion, handmade cards, homewares and afro-inspired dolls by local designers at Black & Green Tent, performances and events for children from Love my Brixton, an Alice in Wonderland flowerbed outside Lambeth Town Hall, and Artbooty – a car boot sale with a difference created by BRIXI – inside the former furniture factory Brixton East 1871.
Explore the website to uncover why Brixton is such a creative powerhouse www.brixtondesigntrail.com
Brixton DesignTrail is supported by Lambeth Council, Heritage Lottery Fund and Brixton BID, and organised by 2MZ and Squire and Partners.
To contact BDT please email BDT@squireandpartners.com