Atlantic Billboard

Atlantic Billboard, Look Both Ways was a community project created with local young people and featuring testimonies from local residents. This projected animation opens a window to the complex history behind Brixton ‘81 Uprisings.

Inspired by the lived experiences of the 81 community at time when racial discrimination and tensions between the local community and the police were at a high. It tells the story of Leroy and opens a window to the complex history behind the Brixton '81 Uprisings and the significance of the Atlantic Ocean tracing back to the Zong Massacre of 1781. Containing sections which travel back and forth in time - from the present day, the 80's, the 50's and the 17th Century - it gave insights into importants moments in Black British History. Screenings of Atlantic Billboard : Look Both Ways took place on 9th - 11th April 2021 on the 40th anniversary of the '81 Uprisings where clashes between Black residents in Brixton and London's mostly white Metropolitan Police force culminated in an uprising that would change the city forever.

Many of the young people living in Brixton were children of the "Windrush Generation," a wave of immigrants from Caribbean countries who'd arrived between 1948 and 1972. But by the 1980s, their dreams of a better life for their children had faltered. Black people in Britain faced discrimination over jobs and housing as well as facing the ongoing threat of police brutality.

The location of Atlantic Billboard: Look Both Wys was at the crossroads of Atlantic, Railton and Coldharbour invites us to Look Both Ways to understand the historical context of 1981, incorporating poetry by Linton Kwesi Johnson and testimony from local residents to create this significant community project. Mesmer engaged with four local young people - Renzo Allen, Seonaid Gowdie, Jonathan Gowdie and Nile Thomas to develop the piece as a professional learning experience.

Atlantic Billboard was made possible by the following partners: Arts Council England, Mesmer, The Brixton Project, Connection Crew, 81 Acts of Exuberant Defiance, Lambeth Council, Atlantic Dogstar, Paragon Projection, Wainwright & Cummins Solicitors LLP and RWA London.

Client:
81 Acts

Location:
Brixton, London, 2021

Services:
Video & Projection Design
Technical Consultancy

Team:
Video Designer: Dick Straker

Photos:
© 81 Acts