Harold Offeh: We Came Here

About

We Came Here manifests as a conversation across a century; between 20-year old Vincent Van Gogh who in 1873 had just arrived in Stockwell; and 20-year old Olive Morris, a Jamaican-born, Brixton-based community leader, who in 1972 was campaigning for feminist, black and squatters’ rights. The imagined dialogue between artist and activist will explore their shared and divergent experiences of London, social justice and the development of personal and socio-political consciousness. In other audio testimonies drawn from historic archives, more young migrants to Brixton and Lambeth will tell their stories.

Exploring the life of the twenty-year old Vincent Van Gogh during his tenure at Hackford Road, Offeh became intrigued by the idea of the artist as a ‘migrant’ in London. During a three-month residency at Van Gogh House in 2021, Offeh investigated Lambeth Archives, Black Cultural Archives and other historical sources researching the history of immigration to Stockwell and Brixton since Van Gogh left London over a century ago. We Came Here builds on these stories and narratives, mapping on the perspectives of young migrants arriving in contemporary London, to build an idiosyncratic collection of accounts across generations.

We invite visitors to continue these contributions to Stockwell and Brixton’s oral history. Scan the QR code to record and be added to the We Came Here audio archive; and listen to the exclusive archival recordings.