We Are Here will take over the Rio Cinema in Dalston during London Design Festival 2022 as a platform co-curated by Spandana Gopal, Manijeh Verghese and Debika Ray to celebrate immigrant voices in the urban and cultural realm; featuring Chila Kumari Burman, SUPAKINO with Sound Advice and a host of speakers and DJs.
Join us for an afternoon celebration of community and design that will enliven this grade II-listed independent art deco cinema in Dalston, a venue that has long celebrated the diversity of East London through community events and festivals. In its foyer, artist Chila Kumari Burman will install her Ice Cream Van sculpture, originally commissioned by the Tate for their 2020 Winter Commission. Following their SHUBZ event at the V&A at last year’s London Design Festival, Sound Advice – a platform that explores new forms of spatial practice through music – will invite DJs and create a film artwork to explore the rituals diasporic communities deploy in order to be represented. Throughout the afternoon, the Rio will play host to music and short films by migrant voices that are a portal into everyday spaces of community culture. Interspersed between these will be a series of intervals, celebrating the special break in programming typical of the South Asian cinematic experience. Traditionally, it was a moment to stretch your legs, have a comfort break, eat some snacks and ice-cream while chatting to your friends about what you’ve seen so far. Here, the intervals will feature a variety of speakers discussing the contribution of diasporic communities in shaping the urban and cultural realm in London, and celebrate the types of spaces – whether domestic, communal or public – where people come together.
This event has been made possible by the generous support from the following organisations: Haworth Tompkins / Jestico + Whiles / Jencks Foundation / Rio Cinema / SUPAKINO / ZETTELER
