How a Peckham street filled with art brought neighbours together

In 1986 the exhibition Chambres d’Amis took contemporary art into the homes of 58 residents in Ghent. Forty years on, curator Ben Broome has adapted that idea for a small street in Peckham, south-east London. He came across Chambres d’Amis when he was between institutional jobs and, wanting to get to know his neighbours, began knocking on doors to pitch the project to people on a road that mixes council and privately owned flats and houses.

“The majority of people have never been to the Tate; they have never even been to the South London Gallery, which is a local institution. But that’s not to say some of the neighbours aren’t really creative,” he says. Twelve households signed up and were paired with established and emerging artists interested in domestic spaces or what Broome calls a “social practice”.

Bespoke, site-specific works have been installed in homes, gardens and communal spaces.

United Kingdom, Peckham, south-east London

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