We are often told in Church circles that if you do something three times it becomes a tradition, and you will need to continue it for ever! Well for the 3rd year running Nine Elms Arts Ministry has once again transformed the development area it serves into a giant Advent Calendar featuring 24 unique installations, created by local artists and organisations, around this year’s theme of ‘Peace on Earth’. The installations form a walking trail in the windows of cafes, bars, salons, clinics, schools, churches, gyms, community centres and some more unusual spaces this year.
The Advent Calendar, which runs from 1st December – 5th Jan, began as a response to the question of how, as a fresh expression and pioneering ministry, we can bring something of the message of Advent and Christmas into an area which is changing and growing with breath-taking speed; where almost every property is high-rise and where creating community is a real challenge. As an arts ministry it’s also been a way of enabling artists and community to come together to find creative ways of exploring messages central to the Advent and Christmas seasons.
Sarah Collymore, Head Teacher of St George’s CE Primary says: “We have been so privileged to take part in the Nine Elms Advent Calendar for the last three years. It given the children a chance to work with brilliant artists and produce high quality artwork and has raised the profile of the school within the community. The themes have been very poignant, especially during COVID-19, and have enabled conversations to take place within our community. This year’s theme of peace and our installation on ‘unity’ have really been talking points. The Advent calendar has enabled different parts of the community to get to know each other. Walking the trail and finding parts of Battersea you didn’t know existed has all been a great experience for us. Taking part in a large-scale arts event has given the children a sense of purpose and belonging and we have enjoyed every minute”
So what does sharing the message of peace brought by the angels to the shepherds look like in a 21st Century culture, facing climate crisis, a global pandemic and an increased secularism? For me, part of the answer is simply bringing people together to collaborate on something that helps us reflect on what peace might mean for us at this time. It’s also about giving artists and creatives freedom – and a platform – to express what peace means to them. And it’s offering the local community and visitors a beautiful and provocative trail, that encourages them to pause and reflect on a theme that is so central to the biblical message of Christmas.
Wandsworth Councillor Steffi Sutters, Cabinet Member for Community Services & Open Spaces says:
“The Nine Elms Advent Calendar is always a lovely project that displays the best in our communities and thriving art scene during the festive season. This is a fantastic opportunity for residents and visitors to explore Nine Elms and celebrate our growing neighbourhood.”
Exploring the neighbourhood is really important, as anyone who visits Nine Elms will discover. An area that for decades was completely industrial is becoming a busy and thriving new town centre, but many parts of the area are still building sites, so even those who have lived here for years can find they don’t know their own neighbourhood anymore. The Advent Calendar map helps to literally ‘put places on the map’ as some of this year’s locations don’t yet appear on standard maps!
The local community is at the heart of the Advent Calendar – many of the installations are collaborations between artists, schools and community groups, with support from Wandsworth Council and other sponsors. Curator graduates from Royal College of Art have this year collaborated with a local artist to create a stunning light installation at a community centre on one of our social housing estates. It’s a wonderful opportunity to bring global developers, who are building in the area, together with local emerging artists. Window 1 this year is a giant 21 panel hoarding of a hand cut vintage collage depicting a range of peaceful landscapes. It’s our largest ‘window’ ever and it’s made possible by a major sponsorship collaboration with developer Dominvs Group, who will be building a hotel next to the US Embassy.
Wesley Ankrah, Director of Social Value & Community Investment for Dominvs Group says: “We’ve thoroughly enjoyed partnering with Nine Elms Arts Ministry as the flagship sponsor for the 2021 Advent Calendar. With Social Value and community at the core of what we do and who we are as a developer, a critical element of the business is that we participate and support local initiatives by learning and understanding the needs of the community and working with individuals to help achieve those goals, resulting in creating environments that people want to live, work and socialise in. For emerging artists like Laura, who was commissioned for this project, this platform of community engagement has increased her self-belief as an artist and given her the experience working on a larger scale project early on in her career. Using workshops to incorporate the wider community contributions to the final design also results in positively impacting more individuals within the community.”
The installations explore the theme of peace in many ways and in many unique locations, such as the open-air forest scene in the pedestrian walkway through New Covent Garden Market, a Peace festival on a barge, a florist displaying a scene from the Colombian rainforest, fine art photography of Antarctica and a stunning revolving peace globe at the heart of the Battersea Power Station development.
But we have not overlooked telling the story of that first Christmas, the message of the angels and the centrality of the child who embodied the message of peace. In a developer’s sales suite, a stunning installation of crowns and mirrors declares the presence of ‘The Prince of Peace’. In a gazebo in the car park of our church school, a Franco Nigerian textile artist has worked with pupils to create a beautiful multi-cultural nativity using global fabrics and recycled Barbie dolls! A stained-glass nativity scene lit from behind adorns the window of our local RC Primary and across the road at the RC Church is a shining angel with a globe as a heart and wings declaring messages of peace in the many languages of the congregation. In a Black Cab by the river, a nativity scene has been recreated using material almost entirely collected from the shore of the Thames and the shining Christ-child is laid in a shopping crate lined with supermarket carrier bags – reminding us that many mothers still have to give birth without a safe home. And our window 24 – once again at St George’s Church on the Patmore Estate, depicts the heart of God and the cross of Christ in over 10,000 LED lights.
The artist of this light installation, Alexa Muen says: “Being commissioned to create a work in my “home” church St George’s, where I have my residency, has been a huge blessing. The commission enabled me to create a devotional piece on this year’s theme. The vision of the work was granted after the prayer “Please let the piece seed Christ’s love in the most hearts”. Yesterday whilst taking the publicity photographs, there were children going home from school with their parents, all taking time to stop and stare it was lovely to see seeds being planted. The Nine Elms Advent Trail truly represents the junction of art, and community.”
The Advent Calendar is only part of our work as Nine Elms Arts Ministry, but it has, in these past three years, become our most high profile event and something that people look forward to and which brings together a huge number of organisations and individuals who would never otherwise collaborate – working together to bring joy to the area and, this year, touch hearts with a message of ‘Peace on earth, goodwill to all’. Whether it becomes a tradition is yet to be seen!
For more information on walking the trail, including an interactive map with information on all the artworks, go to www.nineelmsartsministry.org
To follow the Advent Calendar on social media Instagram @nineelmsartsministry / Facebook /nineelmsartsministry / Twitter @9ElmsArtsRev
The Advent Calendar is a collaboration of local businesses, developers, community groups, schools, churches, artists and creatives – all brought together by Nine Elms Arts Ministry and kindly supported by the Diocese of Southwark, Wandsworth Council, Battersea Power Station and Dominvs Group and other local sponsors.
Nine Elms Arts Ministry is an emerging community exploring the arts, spirituality, well-being and social justice in the heart of the Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms Development and is a SDF funded project by the Anglican Diocese of Southwark and led by Revd Betsy Blatchley, Pioneer Minister in the Arts.
All photos by Charlie Round Turner
Artists: Goose Glitters (Hoarding)
Fée Uhssi – Doll Nativity
Alexa Muen – Church
