Somers Town is changing rapidly. The museum is set up to preserve an area that feels at risk of extinction.
And we believe working class areas deserve to have museums!
A Space for Us – People’s Museum Somers Town is a space to preserve local voice and the area; to celebrate an incredible ‘radical, reformers and uncommon people’s‘ histories, to record the change now, as well as to campaign and preserve local working class heritage.
This community museum has been set up by local residents with the aim of playing a part in sustainable development of cities and civic society, and reducing inequality.
‘Now is a time for everyday utopias not just gilded pleasure domes.’
The Museum is at 52 Phoenix Road, NW1 1ES, within the Ossulston Estate, a Grade 2 listed social housing.
A SPACE FOR US is a space for the local COMMUNITY
It’s also a space for the community to meet and take part via our memory cafes, drop ins and youth collective. We welcome members of our Community Curator group, as well as contributions to the collection, publications and our research.
Thus it’s a museum co-created with its communities.
DOCUMENTING CHANGE
This area is changing rapidly. We have a role in documenting the changes happening in an area that feels at risk of extinction.
GILBERT BAYES ART IN EVERYDAY LIFE CAMPAIGN
We’ve been campaigning to restore St Pancras working class Gilbert Bayes heritage onto the estates it was intended for: St Pancras Housing – more.
‘I noticed treasures where it was thought there were none’
Aidan Dunn Vale Royal
Who are we? Our community-led collective STS have produced 4 books and 2 films, over 400 events with over 500 contributors on local histories, many locals, we’re now consulted on matters such as the Cecil Rhodes House renaming project and ‘hard to reach’ groups. STS is led by local residents, has deep roots in the community and began as a Somers Town History Club back in 2016. All leads have working class backgrounds and are locals:
Diana Foster, Director
Learning Designer, artist, and community activist, Diana founded the A Space for Us People’s Museum, and previously the Somers Town History Club, after a sensing a need to preserve this place. Her passion for its neglected working class histories began with her 2013 participatory film somerstownwishes, gathering local “voices from below”, directed the documentary film Spirit! She contributes her skills, designing online content for schools, publications, and work experience for young people. She is proud to be the working class daughter of Polish refugee miner and dressmaker. An incomer to Somers Town, she took residence in 1987.
Professor Esther Leslie, Co-Director, Academic Lead
Professor of Political Aesthetics at Birkbeck, University of London, in the School of Arts.
Esther is passionate about local radical histories, such as the communist Unity Theatre and Pan Africanism. As an academic and Editor of our 4 publications, her work was key in developing narratives, such as for Histories of Migrations book, as well as devising de-colonising workshops and youth zine programmes. Artist, reviewer of exhibitions, and author of books on topics as diverse as animation, milk, liquid crystals and screen devices, her work encompasses exhibitions such as at MIMA in Middlesbrough, and, recently, speaking on In Our Time, a BBC Radio 4 show on Walter Benjamin. Her local Jewish origins take in potato market workers, and the seller of anarchist books to George Padmore, and others of the International African Service Bureau in Somers Town.
Steve McCarthy, Co-Director/Guide
Steve went to school in working class King’s Cross and has worked in Somers Town for a lifetime, arguably more familiar with resident concerns having knocked on many doors. He set up hiddenlondonwalks.uk covering the beautiful Gilbert Bayes finials. He is now the museum’s resident curator on the subject. He is passionate about their loss and restitution, and working class history, and still does walks for us! Many years in the 1980’s he is credited with opening and running the first alternative comedy club in Camden. He was also part of Wildcat Arts/ Kids Collective, and also worked as a graphic designer and a Camden community researcher.
Dervilla Carroll – Advisor
Dervilla has lived in Somers Town with her family, her sons attended local schools and she is a key member of the community as chair of the Goldington Estate, was consulted on the name change from Cecil Rhodes. Orginating from Ireland, she moved to Tolmer Sqaure Squat and has e had a long career in law representing Irish freedom fighters.
Nabil Al-Kinani, Urbanist Advisor
By day, Nabil Al-Kinani is a built-environment professional with a keen interest in urbanism, placemaking, sustainable development and place vision. By night, he is a writer and producer that uses creativity to deliver works that draw focus on the relationship between spaces and stories. Other strands of his work includes the exploration of spatial politics, identity, culture and migration.
Ema Howling – Advisor Engagement
Ema is a local resident of Somers Town and an active community leader with strong connections to families and young people across the area. involved as a Director in local Plot 10 youth charity and governor at the local secondary school, she is a co-ordinator of Gingerbread (single parents’ charity) programmes locally, a single mum of a 11-year-old son, and a local activist, who delivers sewing socials and Re-craft workshops that promote creativity, sustainability and wellbeing. As advisor, she bring a fresh, grassroots perspective to our museum offer and helping community engagement and ensures that our programmes are inclusive, relevant and meaningful for local families and young people.
Frankie Biney – Inclusion Advisor
Founder of Nkabom, a local PanAfrican organisation, showcasing African arts and Culture, local resident and musician Frankie has Ghananian roots, has lived and worked in Somers Town since 1990s, and is a regular fixture of the Festival of Cultures (now Somers Town Festival) and Community Activist, helping newcomers to integrate into the community. Frankie supports our team on inclusion and community cohesion.
Salima Abdallah – Community Advisor
Salima Abdallah is a Certified Coach, Mentor, and Founder of Real Life Events, a coaching service empowering social impact purpose driven practitioner who builds sustainable, values-driven businesses.
With over 15 years of experience in Events Management, Marketing, and Business Education, Salima helps entrepreneurs move from uncertainty to action with practical strategies, confidence-building, and sustainable growth tools.
She specialises in equipping entrepreneurs with digital, entrepreneurial, and mindset skills to ensure long-term success.
As a Community Manager at the new British Library extension, Salima leverages her expertise in social capital and social value to create meaningful opportunities.
Somers Town Space
www.aspaceforus.club
Instagram: aspaceforusnow
Twitter @HistoryTown
Facebook:/aspaceforus
A living memory project – preserving heritage and voice
The Somers Town Memory Project, documents the area in film and voice: this oral history work is ongoing in an area riven by change. The Spirit! film came from this work. We’ve also compiled 4 Spirit! publications, outdoor displays, ‘Pop Up Museums‘ including the 2019 British Library. In August 2020 we toured estates as part of a community co-design/ consultation for the Museum.
Have a look at all our projects.
Community work
Our roots are as a social club, holding talks, walks, photo and art competitions – events are always free to locals. We always contribute to the Somers Town Festival – we came into being supported by the founder of the Festival of Cultures Stephen Denholm (RIP).
We have put on outdoor exhibitions, donated children’s activity books to food banks, uploaded online education for primary school for Edith Neville School; facilitated several week’s Work Experience with 54 secondary school pupils including in lockdown.
Our origins and ethos
Our origins are in the Somers Town History Club (STHC) set up in 2016 by seven locals: ‘Capturing Somers Town Stories… by locals for locals…’
This is our guiding spirit – we believe in local ownership of the Museum
We’re the only entirely resident-led activist community organisation in Somers Town. We have drawn together a wide diverse network of experts, academics, historians to support this.
We believe in grounds up initiative- that’s why we’re currently co-curating the Museum with the community.
Governance
Somers Town Space Community Interest Company is a community-led social enterprise set up in 2019 to benefit our area and community through education and arts.
Our Research Board includes Malcolm Holmes, Professor Linda Clarke, Charles Wenz, and Joe Kerr.
We are in process of recruiting a Community Steering Group and a Youth Collective.
Core Committee Members
- Diana Foster – Director
- Esther Leslie – Co-Director, Academic Lead (Birkbeck, University of London) Director
- Steve McCarthy (Guide) Co-Director
- Mae Slevin of Ossulston Estate (Treasurer)
- Alan Stephens (TA Origin)
- Dervilla Carroll (TRA Goldington Estate)
- John Carroll
- Flurry Wright
- Advisory Group
- Nabil Al-Kinani, urban activist
- Ema Howling, STCA and Somers Town neighbourhood Forum Treasurer
- Cllr Samata Khatoon
- Malcolm Holmes
- Patron Robert Montgomery
- Patron Pearly Queen of St. Pancras Diane Gould
Councillor Roger Robinson (RIP) supported our origins in 2016 as a club patron:
“I am very grateful as one of the councillors for St Pancras & Somers Town for the establishment of the Somers Town History Club. Those of us who either live in Somers Town or work there know of some of the history of the area but there is so much more to know and appreciate. The History Club will be a great venue for all to meet and hear about our beloved history especially as we are still working towards setting up a Somers Town Heritage Centre/Museum. I want to warmly thank Diana Foster for setting up the Club. See you there?“
Donors
We are grateful to our donors: Wellcome, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Lottery Funds, Culture Seeds, Camden Giving, Origin, Places for People, The Francis Crick Institute and START (Somers Town Arts), Origin, The Gilbert Bayes Trust, Somers Town Big Local, Camden Council CIL Fund, STCA, Future Neighbourhoods, Phoenix Court, Elephant Trust, Highgate Arts Society and Camden Youth Foundation, Anne Kauder
And many others who donated for our publications!
Thanking:
ex-Cllr. Roger Robinson, ex-Cllr Paul Tomlinson and Cllr Samata Khatoon
Duncan Pittaway
RMT
References
Everyday utopias – Stephen Pritchard
‘A vision in a dream – a fragment. Walls imposed on nature by stately decree. Enclosed palace of pleasure which sees itself reflected in an unrestrained river. Empire. Human power. Nature’s power. Time unending. Time becomes a loop. The loop becomes a song about self-obsession and loss. This song of loss is part of who we are and what we humans do: we build to destroy – keeping little fragments, not to remember the loss we created but to retell its stories in palatable ways.
And we build our pleasure domes – our museums and galleries – our glass castles and concrete cathedrals of cultural power – in our own image, without thought or care for those already there: those whose stories and memories and own little losses are not worthy of our new faux-Brutalist pleasure domes. Our pleasure domes are for the emperors of our time – and for their followers (and for the emperors and followers of all the empires before and after) – for us, not them.
We build our walls to protect our vision in a dream – our intentionally fragmented histories and imagery safely preserved as formal, interpreted, collected floral displays behind walled gardens. New enclosures of not so old commons: commonly now council owned land, council homes, social housing – our land (at least nominally). And no matter how much “outreach” and “engagement” emanates from our pleasure domes, and no matter how much zeal our cultural missionaries and mercenaries apply, the new emperors do not want the weeds or the supposedly culturally bereft neo-barbarians inside.
No community centres, libraries, youth clubs, sports clubs, playing fields or parks for them. But there is, for example, a place in our pleasure domes for fragments of paraded “streets in the sky” – for robbed sections of Robin Hood Gardens council homes – for us.
But now is a time for everyday utopias, not just gilded pleasure domes.
….it. It is about understanding that we all have visions in dreams and that they do not always prophesise building pleasure domes or bastions to cultural power – to the emperors of soft power. The re-enchantment of our everyday lives is not about museums and galleries leading the way to some culturally rich promised land in which our pasts and presents are censored, sanitised, sugar-coated then mercilessly monetised. This is the path to disenfranchisement and disenchantment. Instead, our re-enchantment lies in putting people before place, people before power, cultural democracies ahead of bureaucracies, and in creating beautiful everyday utopias in which our pasts and presents can be shared and celebrated everywhere.’