Welcome to Pembroke People, a blog to record a 6 month artist residency I have been awarded funded by Near Neighbours at Pembroke House, a church and community centre in South London. My aim over the next six months is to bring together people of different cultural and religious backgrounds through art events and projects.
I am a socially-engaged artist living and working in London. I studied Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art where I explored regeneration, temporary public art and notions of community. Supported with a substantial body of ongoing research, including a thesis on the role of temporary public art in regeneration, my work responds to and challenges public, urban and socio-political tensions through encouraging and engaging real people. This often results in public workshops, walks, discussions and events as artistic outcomes.
For me, art is a social medium. As I continue to pursue socially engaged art I am looking forward to more in-depth communication and research with different groups of people, beginning here at Pembroke House. I will embrace future challenges faced by socially engaged art and believe that this is an exciting beginning: its potential is yet to be fulfilled.
Eleanor Shipman
Pembroke People
