Verity-Jane Keefe
Create and the Royal Institute of British Architects are proud to present Lived in Architecture - Becontree at 100, a major new commission of artwork by Verity-Jane Keefe.
This exhibition was presented at RIBA’s Architecture Gallery, at 66 Portland Place, 21 October 2021 to 26 February 2022.
Lived in Architecture was developed as part of a year-long residency that Verity undertook with Create & The White House, taking place across Dagenham’s Becontree Estate through 2019, as part of Living Together.
Verity’s residency has produced a series of new artworks and events in collaboration with residents that has led into this large scale programme to celebrate the Becontree Centenary, marking 100 years since building began on what was once the largest social housing estate in the world.
To find out more about Verity’s work, visit her website here - contact her via hello@verityjanekeefe.co.uk - or visit RIBA’s homepage.
Verity-Jane Keefe
Living Together takes a critical look at the past 100 years of social housing through the lens of this hugely significant Estate. The project puts the Becontree Estate firmly at the heart of national and international conversations about the past, the present and possible futures for social housing. Led by the voices of past and present residents, the project embraces and explores the complexities of this large form suburban estate, which is still home to over half the residents of this London Borough.
The project also provide a platform for the individual spirit that can be found in every corner of the four-square mile footprint of the Becontree.
The architecture and scale of the estate is well known, but it is the more recent history - how housing policy, such as Right to Buy, has impacted the way that Becontree looks and what it is like to live in, today and into the future.
Verity-Jane Keefe
About Verity-Jane Keefe:
Verity-Jane Keefe is a visual artist working predominantly in the public realm to explore the complex relationship between people and place. Her work encompasses working with moving image, text, installation and utilises archival and research methodologies.
She is interested in the role of the artist within urban regeneration and how experiential practice can touch upon and raise ambitions of existing communities. She has an ongoing, accidental love affair with Outer London and has been working in Barking and Dagenham for over 10 years on self-initiated commissions, including The Mobile Museum, and in partnership with the borough’s Heritage, Planning Policy and Regeneration departments. Her practice celebrates the everyday qualities of places, uncovering and celebrating, documenting, archiving and responding to changes within the built environment and setting up platforms to share experiences of these changes.
About LIVING TOGETHER:
Living Together was a project by artist Verity-Jane Keefe in partnership with Create London and London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Living Together was developed over 2019-2020, leading to a larger scale programme celebrating the centenary of Dagenham’s Becontree Estate in 2021. It examined the past 100 years of social housing through the lens of Becontree, once the largest social housing estate in the world; looking at the past, the present and into the future.
Living Together is currently supported through a development grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and a project grant from Arts Council England.