PLAY SWAP is making a film!

Exciting times ahead as PLAY SWAP is planning to produce a short film with photographer and filmmaker Michael Radford. 


The film will document PLAY SWAP by inviting local children to interview local people about the games they played as children, and discussing the challenges and benefits of play in Walworth and Southwark. Filming will be taking place over the next few weeks on East Street Market, in Nursery Row Park and in and around Pembroke House. 


We are hoping to then screen the film at Pembroke House and in other local venues.


If you would like to get involved with the PLAY SWAP film or have games to share, then please get in touch: eleanorshipman@gmail.com

PLAY SWAP 3: Installing tyre swings on the Heygate

PLAY SWAP 3: Janet from the Lunch Club and three of the young people from the youth group at Pembroke House, as well as our fantastic assistant Julian, ventured out into the Heygate to install tyre swings this afternoon. 

PLAY SWAP: Re-imagining the Heygate

Following our rather active first half of the session we ended on flexing our more creative muscles - and re-imagining the Heygate and surrounding buildings as new places to play. Using photos I had taken yesterday, we drew our ideas onto the images and turned walkways into rope webs to climb on, stairways into slides, boarded up windows into climbing walls and water towers into flumes. Our own urban playground came alive across the pages - now how to make it a reality...

Eleanor Shipman

Pembroke People

PLAY SWAP 1: A hard day's play

A hard day's play. I write this exhausted from hopscotch, skipping, throwing, catching, jumping and imagining with the first members of PLAY SWAP - which started in full creative force today. As Janet observed, our faces now 'ache from laughing'. Not a bad first day. 

I began by hijacking Daniel from the Lunch Club, along with Janet and Joan who both taught me a whole hoard of games last week with their stories from their childhood in the local area (which you can listen to in the previous post), and with enthusiastic help from Steve - fellow resident of the house and Lunch Club volunteer. 

Armed with chalk, marbles, balls, ropes, lollipop sticks and plenty of other play paraphernalia we began to discuss which game we should play first. As it was drizzling outside we decided to stay in the hall and begin with 'Two balls' - a throwing game with (yes) 'two balls' against a wall where you juggle the balls whilst singing a song (will have to ask Janet to tell me the lyrics...) using two hands, then one hand and various other rules to make the game progressively harder. My hand-eye coordination is not fantastic to begin with so even the first level was a bit much, but Janet was a natural (or well practiced!) and could even get to the end of the song!

We then played Piggy in the Middle and other catching games until the rain stopped when, keen to test out our new chalk, I encouraged everyone to venture outside to play Hopscotch. Due to concerns from the group about vandalism we initially stayed close to Pembroke House, drawing our Hopscotch grid on the pavement outside, but soon a local resident saw us playing and kindly allowed us to draw on the proper paving slabs by his fence. There was much discussion about the different rules of the game, and even brilliant contributions from passers-by - it seems there are different versions from Ghana, Scotland, France and England - but all with the common grid, throwing a pebble (or 'peever' - a shoe polish tin packed with mud in Scotland) and jumping into the squares. 

Sadly the rain started up again and drove us inside, giving us that fond childhood memory of being 'cooped up' and wishing for the rain to go away and come again another day. 

Eleanor Shipman

Pembroke People

Street Game Collection: PART 1

Street games collected from local residents, clients of Pembroke House and the stallholders of East Street Market. A brilliant range of exciting games from around the world, from India to Wales to War-time London, from older people to children currently playing in Elephant and Castle, with similarities and adaptations evolving along the way. These games will be the inspiration behind the upcoming PLAY SWAP drop in sessions, due to start next Thursday from 2.30 - 5.30pm.

Exciting times ahead!

Pembroke People

Eleanor Shipman

Get the Message Training Weekend - Camden Arts Centre

The weekend was spent submerged with 15 other selected artists in fascinating debate around socially-engaged art, public projects, community-based workshops and educational events. The weekend's focus was centred around Get the Message, an educational outreach programme at Camden Arts Centre. Get the Message is a collaboration with students from three Special Educational Needs schools in the local area who have multiple and complex learning disabilities.


Artists Natasha Kidd, Raine Smith and Jo Addison are mentors for Get the Message, and have been involved with the programme for 7 years, with the last three as mentors to artists Georgie Manly and Judith Brocklehurst. 


The weekend was spent dissecting socially-engaged practice, analysing and discussing what we found before reassembling the parts in the form of collaborative workshops which responded to Zoe Leonard's current exhibition at CAC Observation Point. 


The challenges and discussions which arose were reassuringly shared and it felt that, as a group of freelance artists, we all cherished the opportunity to openly raise our concerns, opinions, challenges and successes. The energy in the room was almost audibly buzzing, as we bounced ideas off each other and responded to our briefings from Natasha, Raine and Jo with a positivity and enthusiasm which can only come about through shared passion. 


It was a fantastic weekend, and I have returned full of fresh ideas and renewed confidence in existing ones. A brilliant two days in Camden.


Read more about Get the Message here.

1 ARTIST, 6 MONTHS AND ALL OF YOU

Pembroke People officially begins with the launch of the introduction poster and Pembroke People logo. All ideas welcome from the users of Pembroke House and beyond!

Pembroke People

Eleanor Shipman