Commissioned by South London Gallery
Jessie Brennan We Are Here (2018), text installation (situated on the roof of Heron House), Pelican Estate
In spring 2017, the South London Gallery (SLG) invited Jessie Brennan to collaborate with residents of Pelican Estate on a project titled YOUR WORDS. Jessie spent time listening to residents whose experiences, in different ways, celebrate the value of public housing and speak to the broader challenges often faced by those on council estates: the stigmatisation of social housing tenants; the lack of maintenance and ‘managed decline’ by councils; the threat of demolition and redevelopment by policies that value private ownership over state-funded homes.
To mark the end of the project, WE ARE HERE has been created: a text installation on the roof of Heron House and a poster publication distributed back to residents, which documents some of the conversations, contributions and research developed over the course of the project. Read Jessie’s introductory text and some of the conversations between Jessie and Pelican residents, here.
YOUR WORDS is part of Open Plan, a long-term public art and education project which invites international and British artists to create artworks with and for the SLG’s close neighbours on Elmington, Pelican and Sceaux Gardens housing estates, along with a programme of events at the gallery.
Recent press: The Art Newspaper; AN