SE1 Stories : A Record of Community Struggles

Interesting small exhibition at the Oxo Tower Gallery looking at community action in the Blackfriars area of Southwark in the 1970s.

I don’t know the area well enough to appreciate this show properly but it did bring back that period to me by looking at objections to property developments in the area against the background of the 1973 property boom and bust. It also looked at campaigns to demolish squalid tenement buildings and rehouse the residents.

It used lots of archive material from the time including campaign produced magazines and some great photographs. It was amusing that some of the projects they were objecting to have since become iconic including the redevelopment of the Oxo Tower were the show was being held.

Closed 16 January 2022

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