CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS: #tap London 2017, June 2017 in London

Our proposal in response to the ‘call for entries 2017' for the London Festival of Architecture 2017 (LFA) has been accepted as one of the projects to help LFA explore the theme ‘memory’ in June this year.

We are currently inviting artists (visual/performing), designers, architects, planners and anyone who is interested (whether in practice, in academia, or in training/studying) in contributing and/or participating in our interpretation of this year’s LFA theme ‘memory.’

For LFA 2017, we propose to use our approach of tapping locally with global insights to reach out to minority communities in London in order to draw out a history of experiences of London; and how by belonging to the capital, the memories we choose to hold of our places of origin are inherently influenced over time. We will be looking at how African and other migrant communities in London contribute to place-making in the capital through memories, practices of tradition and influences of socio-cultural identity from which these communities originated from; how it becomes part of London’s context (Brixton, Peckham, to name a few places) through food, music, fashion, home style, and other subjects; and how such subjects can and does influence a sense of place.

Our proposal is based on an event we held earlier this year in Ghana: #tap Accra 2017. Through a series of knowledge exchange activities and experimental processes, we seek to bring industry experts, specialists, academics and the wider community together to better inform how we develop and improve our built environment. We navigate between the lines of fun and serious, ready to explore new approaches and to rethink current practices for positive change to our built environment.

How to participate:

• Exhibition/installations
• Performing arts
• Talks and presentations
• #tap London 2017 Task Force: to deliver the event. We are building a temporary team of designers, videographers, photographers, architects, and anyone ready to help us tap into London.

Please express your interest using our online form: Application to Participate in #tap London 2017

Note: full venue and event information will be announced between the end of April and early May 2017.

About London Festival of Architecture 2017, 1–30 June

The London Festival of Architecture was founded in 2004, and is now firmly established as Europe’s biggest annual architecture festival. The London Festival of Architecture 2017 will feature events across the capital from 1–30 June, and this year will explore the theme ‘memory’. The London Festival of Architecture celebrates London as a global hub of architectural experimentation, practice and debate, provoking questions about the contemporary and future life of the city, and promoting positive change to its public realm. The London-wide programme is delivered by a diverse mix of architecture and design practices and practitioners, cultural and academic institutions, artists and many others.

About this year’s LFA theme ‘memory’

London is a city of myriad layers, each infused with memory: of people, buildings, places and experiences. London’s built environment, with memories bound up within it, is fundamental to how people experience the city, and the starting point from which architects, developers and communities can address change.

London’s built memories are never far from its present – living on in old place names, the City of London’s medieval street pattern, or London’s rich architectural heritage. Memory is fundamental to a sense of place: something that communities cherish in the face of change, and a tool for architects and developers as they achieve change and place further layers of activity and memory on top of all the others.