Tony Coleman rounds up the arts news

In 2014, the sculpture installation All the World is Now Richer by Sokari Douglas Camp CBE was displayed in St Paul’s Cathedral. The artist is internationally renowned. She was born in Nigeria; studied in the USA and the UK, she is now based in Walworth. Her work is in museum collections throughout the world including the Smithsonian and the British Museum, she currently has a piece displayed in the V&A.

The installation comprises six more than life size maquettes, fabricated in sheet metal prior to casting into bronze. The figures depict a journey through slavery: one in ancestral robes, a plantation worker and a domestic serving woman. Then three figures representing the post-liberation era: a Sierra Leonian woman, a man in an executive suit and another in casual dress. Along with the figures are words depicting the resilience of the slavery victims and how their cultures spread and enriched the world (see https://sokari.co.uk/project/all-the-world-is-now-richer-great-hall).

The pieces are proposed for a permanent display in Burgess Park, fully funded by dedicated art foundations. The author is working with the artist and the park management to identify a location that gives the figures their due prominence whilst at the same time maintaining the open views from the entrance that park users admire.

Artist selected for panels at Camberwell Station

Southwark Council was awarded funds from the London Mayor to regenerate Camberwell Station Road. This work is moving from the drawing board into reality. The sharp-eyed reader may have already seen the five arches at the north end of the road being refurbished for use. In the coming months there will be many more developments.

Camberwell Identity was asked by Southwark Council to identify and manage the process of selecting an artist to produce the design for panels that will be fitted to the boarded-up windows of the old Camberwell Station building. The Camberwell Society led this exercise working with Camberwell Arts. A local artist Diana Zrnic won the tender round from 30 other applicants. Her submission was based on the idea of the windows looking into a room where things are happening.