Scissors + glue + intriguing snippets of local history = brilliant! Obviously.
It's an interesting paradox that as London becomes increasingly homogenised – with every high street a gaudy melange of Topshop and Subway – there's a corresponding rise in the desire to learn more about where one lives. No longer is local history simply the preserve of retired servicemen, nor is it only of interest to the ragtag mobs of Sinclair-inspired psychogeographers roaming the capital's backstreets. To some extent this is hardly surprising: as the corporate megalith places local identity under threat, it's logical to expect an increasing interest in the nature and development of that identity.
Something like this informs The Takeaway Shop, a series of art and craft workshops taking place in Deptford this week. Run by artist, designer and director Amy Lord, the sessions encourage visitors to discover strange aspects of the histories of Deptford, Lewisham and New Cross. Did you know for example that Peter the Great came to Deptford to learn about shipbuilding in 1698? Nope, thought not.
Amy has sifted through the local archives, leaving behind the boring parts and sifting out the good bits so that you don't have to. At the hour-long classes, we're taught how to make a rudimentary kind of book – using paper and scraps of old fabric – which we then fill with all manner of these strange old photographs, maps, drawings and snippets of text. And as the name suggests, we get to take our creations with us when we leave.
Amy's aim is to explore (and help to build) that sense of community that comes from shared space – and in some ways The Takeaway Shop acts like a little microcosm. Around the table, everybody chats about the stories they've found here as well as their own personal tales of the area. Not being from Deptford or knowing the area particularly well means that my contributions to the conversation are fairly minimal. Which is probably a good thing, as the hour-long class rushes by and I end up back at home, snipping and glueing until 2am. Making books turns out to be strangely addictive.
Fun, relaxing, interesting and unusual: The Takeaway Shop is brilliant basically. Book a place while you still can!
Takeaway Shop is running at Number82, Deptford until Friday 27th January 2012.
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