mahsiwel

An exhibition on the subject of Lewisham Borough of South-London, where I grew up.

Mahsiwel is an abstraction of the name and logo of Lewisham (backwards). The seemingly alien word or name can be seen as a suggestion of ethnic diversity, a dual identity that is unfamiliar yet at the same time known and of that place.



(Above) On 13 August 1977 the battle of Lewisham took place in New Cross, London. A planned NF (National front) march through South London was met by huge resistance from residents of blue borough who joined arms to form an anti-fascist opposition. Despite 4,000 riot police being deployed to protect the NF using new crowd control techniques, the fascists were greatly overpowered by the opposition of over 10,000 people who used local knowledge to ambush the fascists and break through police lines engaging in direct combat. The march was abandoned without completing half of the planned route.

In Blue Borough 2012 I juxtaposed video footage of the Battle of Lewisham in 1977 with a slow motion video of me donning myself with the crown of Lewisham Borough. The video seeks to acknowledge the effect that this historical event has inevitably had on the direct environment I have grown up in.