I attended this informal summit at the Serpentine gallery as part of the Skills Exchange programme on the 13.01.10 which was set up by a resident artist Barbey to discuss and explore future of London street markets. I felt that this workshop would be of great use to me as one of markets are a hubbub of all things food related, closely entwined within a multitude of social narratives. The host and guests had laid on a beautiful banquet of food from surrounding street markets which was quite a surprise, pakoras and plantain fritters from Brixton, precarious jellied eels, homemade gingerbread, truffles, locally baked bread, chocolate fudge cakes, Cypriot olives amongst many other treats all beautifully illustrating the culinary and cultural diversity that exists within the area.
The space it self had investigatory maps of various markets, images and text adorning the walls from historical accounts of the markets to present users and inhabitants of the market. Additionally a speculative project was situated on the back wall across the floor, a series of architectural models constructed by a small architecture collective (Architecture Crew), exploring the potentials of what a market in the 21st century should be and could potentially be, what purposes it should serve etc… as a piece of speculative design is was interesting to see.
The main premise was focused specifically on markets and their roles with society both historically through to the present day, discussing an array of challenges that they face in the 21st century from the likes of councils, governments and other development initiatives. The exercise was people and society centric, how markets shape peoples lives, how life and communities are situated around these informal yet essential spaces and how time has stood to alter people perceptions. Within the workshop there were people from an varied backgrounds, varied disaplines but with a shared agenda, interest in markets and the maintaining and advocacy of such spaces in the climate of globalization and homgenisation.
Barbeys main area of interest was the East Street Market on the Walworth Rd, her main area of investigative exploration and artistic representation, who had explored the market through a number of different means, ethnographic research. I found most of the people present at the summit interesting due to their fascination with food and the environments in which it is purveyed. I think it would be appropriate for me to highlight in some detail the attendees of the summit abd their current positioning in relation to the debate, I will use bullet points to outline key points otherwise I will waffle on, it is also useful for my purposes to observe some of the strategies employed within their own practices for transference in to my own:
Barbey, artist, East Street Market
- Decanting of estates
- Conversations with market residents to discover memories, Salvation army, characters and myths
- Organised walk around the market, memory guide, illustrated through a huge map on the wall. Families who once lived there, shady pasts, compromised integrity through price reduction
- How can markets contribute to a community creatively
Alex Rhys Taylor, sociologist- PHD Goldsmiths
- Alex is writing his PHD on the formation of communities around food, smells and flavors, whether positive of repugnance, beautifully rich, interesting stuff
- Social relationships that form within this context
- Market language, evolution and catalysts
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