Sunday 29 September 2013

Deptford X kicks off with a flourish

Deptford's annual arts fest Deptford X kicked off with a dramatic flourish on Saturday morning at 11am when Giffin Square hosted possibly the greatest density of people in its refurbished history.

A banner almost the length of the square was unrolled, and groups of volunteers, including festival lead artist Bob & Roberta Smith, were given five minutes to colour in one of the letters which spelled out the festival's theme 'Art makes people powerful'.




Elsewhere the cult of the missing anchor was a strong theme with a funeral wreath in the window of Ralph's greengrocers, stencilled anchors appearing along the high street and near Deptford X galleries, and t-shirts on sale from artists plying their wares through the market.


Deptford is Forever , a collective of artists and local shops, has appropriated the sailor's tattoo and the anchor symbol and built around them a series of interventions and 'giveaway' art works in the form of printed paper bags that independent shops and market traders are using instead of the ubiquitous blue plastic bags.

I hear that there's a special anchor-related event planned for next Saturday - make sure you're in the high street round about midday if you want to witness the spectacle.


Down the road in Gallop, Noemi Lakmaier methodically paints shoes blue for her work The Observer Effect. She has 500 pairs of second-hand shoes to paint, transforming them into 'unwearable art objects'.


The festival continues to next Sunday, ending with the traditional art quiz in the Dog & Bell. For more details of the galleries, installations, events and workshops visit http://www.deptfordx.org/



1 comment:

Just. Hangsing said...

I really enjoyed Deptford X. Such a brilliant art festival.