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What’s a question you’re asking yourself rn?

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If I could bottle up this feeling — I promise I would!

These BEAUTIFUL pictures taken by @vviennna reminded me of what a wholesome book launch we had. And it was all worth it because of the PEOPLE:

the family
the friends

and the moments of community that we felt. I believe similarities in our lived experience makes us family 🫀

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Join us at Tate Modern for a performance and screening of Robin Hood: Past the Concrete.

Featuring poetry, essay and lectures covering the lived experience, politics and community of the estate featured in the @dohosuhstudio exhibition.

📍Tate Modern, Starr Cinema
🗓️ Thursday 25th September, 1830 - 2000
🎟️ £15 Tickets | £5 Tickets via Free Form Channel
🔗Link in bio🔗

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BOOK LAUNCH — PART 2????? 📖✨

YEPPPP, THAT’S RIGHT!!

Meet = Robin Hood: The Arts of Occupation

Now, my work with the V&A holds a very special place in my heart; it builds on something deeply personal.

And on Thursday evening, at the @flowersgallery we finally got to celebrate this labour of love.

Hours of drawing, painting, talking, rewriting, and reimagining came together in our publication Robin Hood: The Arts of Occupation, organized by Ikram with phenomenal contributions from Mara, Sophie, Sadia, Ikram, Cristina, Hanifah, Serra, Alfie, Faith, Patricia and Adrian.

Launching our book in the gallery, side-by-side with the David Hepher’s work behind us, felt fitting. A Robin Hood takeover in a space that often feels exclusive and not meant for us. Yet here we were: holding space.

And as we’ve been saying: this isn’t the end.

We will only grow from this experience. And I sure as hell have learnt so much from the cohort.

A HUGEEE thank you goes to Nate, Ben, Jamel and Afia for clearing the stage for our work to shine. It wouldn’t have been possible without them.

And remember the GLORY is within you.

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“Everything happens because of the story being told”

It was an honour hosting a panel alongside Sister Christine Frost, Asma Begum, Nabil Al-Kinani, @nateagbetu and @afia_yo in July at @vam_east Storehouse, discussing Robin Hood Gardens, managed decline, and the role of the museum in the future of social housing

This was part of the ‘Focus On: Robin Hood Gardens’ event, co-curated with the young people we’ve been working with over the past year, who filled the Storehouse with performances, workshops, film screenings, community meals and more.

On 25 September, we’re teaming up with @tate for an event (‘Past the Concrete: Do Ho Suh’) in response to their current exhibition, Do Ho Suh: The Genesis Exhibition.

Link in bio. Message me for discounted £5 tickets!

📸 @lex__law

💚

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Robin Hood: Past the Concrete (2025) is on view in Gallery One at the V&A Storehouse @vam_east through to 2027.

The film - co-produced with former residents and young people from the now-demolished Robin Hood Gardens - serves as a living memory of those who called the brutalist estate home. It transforms oral histories, guerrilla filmmaking, and poetry into a provocation for London’s future amidst the housing crisis, painting a picture of whose voices should be sovereign when we colour between the lines and tell the story of this grey city.

Alongside objects and a publication, you can now watch this film at @vam_east. More to come on a lecture/performance we’ll be doing at Tate Modern later this month.

Shoutout to the young people, residents, and team that poured into this project.

⸻

Directed by @nateagbetu
Production — @cree_buttercup & @nateagbetu
Featuring — @s_elbahja @faithxyo @thegreatsadia @ikramphotos, Paul Tandy
Co-Production — @kindacoolmara @sophnotfie, Patrisha Galang, @firstsonofsoil, Hanifah
Music Composition — @melozed
Animations — @kindacoolmara
Oral Histories — Asma Begum, Jean Whitelock, Bea Gamblin, Sister Christine, Osman Abdi, Ronnie Northfolk, Sister Christine, Paul Tandy
Graphics — @lkhare @soake.xyz
DOP — @kiafern
B Cam Operator — Oliver Robbins
1st AC — Laura Flack
2nd AC — Niyi Ferreira
Gaffer — Alina Kolosova
Spark — Stan Proszowski
Editor — @cutbyhewitt
Colourist — @thomaskumeling

V&A — @benswabyselig, @afia_yo, @thelondonbrick

Many thanks to @180.studios and @pavilionworks

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📸 @lex__law

I’ve spent the past year working with the V&A East Storehouse on an exhibition about Robin Hood Gardens- the estate I grew up on as a teenager.

Picking apart your own story through the lens of a major institution has been difficult to say the least (lots of internal resistance but i’m working on it).

On the 26th July we facilitated and produced a series of events around the exhibition at the Storehouse.

Seeing the constructive anger in people like, Asma, Sister Christine, Afia, Ben, Nate and Nabil- it lit something in all of us.

Nabil, through his book ‘Privatise the Mandem’, reminded us: we don’t need institutions to validate us. We don’t have to wait for governments or institutions who will always prioritise their own interests.

Self-publishing. Self-education. Self-actualisation.

We can take steps toward the kind of communities we want to live in.

On the back of all this I’m producing some work around community in London, social housing and brutalist architecture. Still in early stages but if anyone wants to chat to me about their thoughts or opinions or experiences (however brief) regarding any of these topics- i’d love you to the moon and back x

**Nabil’s books are a great resource- get the paperback if you can obviously but he’s made them available to read for free online cos he’s a legend**

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“It made me emotional to hear the poems,”

said a former resident of Robin Hood Gardens.

And that’s why I do what I do — to create moments of deep, innate connection.

Yesterday, I had the BEAUTIFUL opportunity to perform my poetry at the V&A Storehouse, just steps away from Robin Hood Gardens. It truly felt like a blessing. @ikramphotos and I shared our poems, both of which are featured in The Art of Occupation publication and of course in my own personal collection Naked Pen. Ikram your sensitivity in writing will never cease to amaze me!!

I will always say with pride: Robin Hood Gardens was never just about the architecture — it was, and always has been, about the people.

A masterpiece dedicated to the ends.

It was such a joy and honour to perform so close to a place that holds so many histories.

A huge thank you to the RHG team — endlessly talented, endlessly generous — and for the beautiful community dinner we shared.

Robin Hood Gardens, you are always in my heart.

All the photo credits go to the phenomenal Alexis Lawless @lex__law

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I was fortunate to work with the Robin Hood Gardens community in Poplar, East London, on a publication that preserves and highlights the writing, imagery, and lived experiences of the residents of this now-demolished housing estate. Collaborating with Robin Hood Gardens cohort and @vam_east, was a experience that was truly humbling.

I was grateful that members of the community were involved in shaping the design of the publication. This project reminded me of the power of design to challenge the status quo, amplify community voices, and preserve often overlooked stories. I am honored to have contributed to a collective effort that reclaims history and transforms it into something enduring.

When you come a visit watch the short film: Robin Hood: Past the Concrete.

Massive thanks the Robin Hood Gardens community, @benswabyselig, @ikramphotos, @nateagbetu the team, and @vam_east.

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Finally forced to come to terms with my middle name being ‘Valentine’… #LSE

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