Laura Oldfield Ford ‘Through The Planned Cities Fires Will Rage’

In this collaborative show at the 5,000sq ft Malthouse, proposed regeneration plans for the area will be examined and reconsidered. The rebranding and redevelopment of Barking Reach is due for completion in 2025, artist Laura Oldfield Ford will coordinate a large scale mapping project with students from Barking Abbey and Warren schools where alternative futures can be imagined.

Ford’s own work uses the strategy of psychogeography to coax out the hidden narratives in the city and formulate a critique of urbanism. In the case of Barking and Dagenham it is the issue of housing that forms the crux of contention. For this new work she imagines militant groups emerging and the planned uses of the new regeneration schemes radically subverted. Her work  references the Blitz, 1973, 1981 and points in the future to set out alternative possibilities. 

Through The Planned Cities Fires Will Rage is the second of three SPACE commissions for the Artists Programme which is funded by London Thames Gateway Development Corporation and University of the Arts Widening Participation. It aims to introduce  young people from Barking and Dagenham to the creative and cultural industries.