Groundbreaking Cultural Showcase Launches In Deptford
- "Deptford Renaissance" celebrated on new website -
13th June 2007
Today saw the launch of a groundbreaking, new on-line arts magazine, known as the p&b cultural showcase, which looks set to seal Deptford's emerging reputation as a new creative quarter in South East London.
The brainchild of Futurecity and Lane Castle, the developers behind the regeneration of the Paynes & Borthwick (P&B) Wharves on Deptford's riverside, the p&b cultural showcase promotes the very best artists and creative businesses in Deptford, Greenwich and Lewisham at www.pandbshowcase.com. In doing this, it aims to raise awareness of the burgeoning creative talent in the area, and bring it to the attention of the public and commerce, for the benefit of the local and wider community.
With backing in the form of a £30,000 grant from Arts & Business, the p&b cultural showcase invites artists and creative businesses in South East London to submit their work to an independent selection panel, which will choose the best candidates in each of six different artistic categories, three times a year.
At the website's launch today, the first six major local talents were announced as the creative leaders in their fields, and their works showcased on the site. They were:
| Visual Arts | Jasmina Cibic (photography and printmaking) |
| Contemporary Arts | Wendy-Sarah Pacey (jewellery) |
| Media | Raw Nerve (on-line design) |
| Performing Arts | Maresa Von Stockert (dance) |
| Design | Alex Gore-Brown (fashion) |
| Retail & Hospitality | You don't bring me flowers (restaurants and food shops) |
A further three in each category were also praised for the quality and creativity of their work, details of which can also be found on the site.
Speaking at the launch today (held at Laban, Deptford, the leading conservatoire for music and dance), Mark O'Grady of Lane Castle said: "We are enormously proud to be launching the p&b cultural showcase today – the culmination of much hard work by a lot of people – and believe that it will have a really positive impact on the local creative community. By showcasing local talent through the website, we hope to stimulate more interaction between commerce and the arts, and help to highlight the strong, and growing, cultural identity in the area."
Lane Castle recently won planning approval for a mixed-use development at Paynes & Borthwick Wharves, in Deptford's riverside area. Their vision for the site is to create a new cultural destination with residential apartments, art galleries, a restaurant and retail space, providing a focus for the area's thriving artistic and creative community. The aim is to open up Deptford's historic waterfront area and provide local people with renewed access to landscaped areas overlooking the Thames. In addition, commercial units will be available to creative industries in the area, and during the development, a show space of approximately 11,000 sq ft will be available for shows, events, performances and presentations for local and visiting art organisations. The p&b cultural showcase website, with its three-times a year competitions, is designed to become a permanent feature in the local arts scene.
Colin Tweedy, Chief Executive of Arts & Business, who provided financial backing for the scheme, added: "This represents an important investment for us, as our first investment this year into the regeneration zone around the 2012 Olympic site. There is tremendous creative energy in this part of South East London, which we believe the p&b cultural showcase will begin to help harness for real and sustainable benefit to the community."
Deptford and Greenwich has one of the largest concentrations of creative industries in the capital and has been designated a Cultural Hub by the London Development Agency.