An East London arts charity last month hosted a special artist’s to accompany an exhibition currently on show that raises awareness about the role of video activism in the housing crisis in the UK.
Artist Ed Webb-Ingall’s show, ‘A Bedroom For Everyone’, is currently on display at PEER in Hackney, and consists of a screening of two films alongside eight posters depicting grassroots housing activism since the 1970s in the UK.
The event on March 22 featured a one-off Q&A with both Webb-Ingall and journalist Kieran Yates where attendees were given the opportunity to find out more about the art and to explore how housing struggles of others have influenced Webb-Ingall’s life and art.
Speaking of why the show came to be, Webb-Ingall said: “I wished to make something from a place of hope.”
In the main room, each of the eight posters tells a unique and yet similar story of housing struggles and how different video methods had been used to tackle the housing emergency, allowing the visitor to see the evolution of these methods over time.
The posters range from depicting the ‘Damp Tapes’ of the mid 1970s and 80s alongside Webb-Ingall’s own contemporary experiences with campaigning against unjust and inadequate housing policies.
In an adjoining room, Home and Dry (1987) is screened, followed by Webb-Ingall’s 2023 film A Bedroom For Everyone, which acts as an unofficial sequel to the prior.
Home and Dry, by Leeds Animation Workshop, depicts four women who meet in a laundrette and discuss their stories and experiences with housing, slowly realising that despite never sleeping out on the street, they are homeless in their own ways.
One character aptly states: “You can have a roof over your head and still be homeless.”
The film goes on to analyse the inadequacies of housing policies and examines the political thinking that lies behind them, with many themes that echo contemporary issues such as the construction of luxury flats, damp and mouldy housing, and difficulties with abusive partners.
A Bedroom For Everyone follows another four characters in the present day meeting at Parliament Square for a housing protest.
The characters, based off of real-life stories that Webb-Ingall collected nationwide, share their stories and successes with housing activism, and highlight how collective action and camaraderie can improve everyone’s lives with the housing emergency.
Webb-Ingall had travelled to hear stories from housing and immigration groups in Glasgow, Nottingham, Liverpool, Birmingham, and London and collaborated with members of these groups, and with lead artist Sofia Niazi and animation director Astrid Goldsmith, to create the film.
Ed Webb-Ingall is a co-founder of The London Community Video Archive and is currently writing a book with the title BFI Screen Stories: The Story of Video Activism.
His previous solo exhibitions include, Grand Union, Devonshire Collective (both 2023); South London Gallery (2019); Focal Point (2018); and The Showroom Gallery (2015).
A Bedroom for Everyone was commissioned by Grand Union, where it was on show from 15th September until 9th December 2023, and is now on show at PEER Hackney, 97-99 Hoxton St, N1 6QL until 11 May, and is free to visit Wednesdays through Saturdays, from 12pm-6pm.
Featured Image and Gallery Credits: Andy Keate
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