OPEN HOUSE FESTIVAL 2023 | BGAC
10:15am - 5:00pm, Saturday 16th September 2023
Open House Festival is a city-wide celebration of London, from 6th-17th September
Bernie Grant Arts Centre is pleased to be part of this year’s Open House Festival.
Open House Festival is a city-wide celebration of the different neighbourhoods, heritage and architecture which make London special. This year the Festival takes place from Wednesday 6th until Sunday 17th September.
The Open House Festival attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors. The festival is a chance to explore the remarkable buildings and landscapes of the capital, and an opportunity for communities and organisations to tell their stories.
Open House works with leading private and public sector organisations including most London boroughs and the Greater London Authority to engage large audiences with built projects and brands. This year Open House asked that every festival contributor responded to the 2023 brief and criteria to make sure that every open day championed access, learning and celebration.
At BGAC we are excited to present our OPEN HOUSE programming which will give the community insight into our day-to-day operations and overall mission. Our spaces will be open to the public all day long from 10am-5pm for them to experience at their leisure as well.
BGAC OPEN HOUSE DAY
10:15am – 5:00pm, SATURDAY 16 SEPTEMBER
GUIDED TOURS: 11am – 1pm & 3pm – 5pm
Explore our diverse, flexible spaces on a tour of our public and private spaces.
Paul Square: A meeting ground for the Tottenham community for years. Paul Square at BGAC has hosted the annual Windrush Festival, Circus Takeover, Tottenham Literature Festival, and Family Fun Days.
BGAC Front of House & Art Installation: An “Ode to David Lammy MP” by Elsa James is on view for our guests to experience. This art installation was inspired by the Tottenham MP in 2018 in response to the Windrush scandal. Elsa James is a conceptual artist and activist working across live performance, film (in which she also performs), text in digital formats and silkscreen prints on paper, spoken word poetry, and, more recently, large-scale neon text and sound.
Her current artistic research focuses on the British Empire and the profundity of transatlantic slavery, diaspora and belonging.
Guests will also have the opportunity to experience our front of house exhibit, “Windrush Elders Exhibition”, a photography exhibit based around a series of portraits of the Windrush Generation, taken by local photographer Steve Bright. BGAC worked with Arts Bridge on this year’s Windrush Day activities to commemorate and celebrate the arrival and contribution of the Windrush Generation in London and beyond.
BGAC Cafe & Bar: Located in our front of house area and recently refurbished by renowned designer Morag Myerscough and artists Yemi Awosile and Luke Morgan. The Cafe will be open and available to our guests to grab a refreshment on their way to explore the BGAC Theatre.
BGAC Theatre: This breathtaking theatre space in the heart of Tottenham has housed many concerts, theatre and dance performances, technical and production rehearsals as well as film, tv shoots, live broadcast, and other events. Our guests will learn about how this Theatre functions and the many wonderful events that have taken place here. Not only will guests experience the theatre they will also have access to where the magic truly happens, our backstage area. The dressing rooms, green rooms, and the areas where our performers hang out and prepare for their moments on stage will be accessible to our guests during this tour.
The Enterprise Centre: Tucked away behind the theatre building is the BGAC Enterprise Centre, where we house up to 20 creative small businesses, supporting the next generation of artists, designers, and makers. Guests will not have access to the inside of this building and will learn more about how this space serves the local artisans and business owners in Tottenham.
BGAC Performance Building: In the Grade II*-listed red brick facade facing the Green, guests will be led through the space that is home to many of our Tottenham based artists and performers. They will have access to the many green rooms, studios, and rehearsal rooms. Not only will they have the pleasure of seeing the space, they will experience our beloved Reggae Choir who will be rehearsing in the space on the day, as well as Aniko’s Dance Academy Rehearsal.
We are extremely honoured to be a part of this year’s OPEN HOUSE and can’t wait to engage our community by providing and behind the scenes experience on how we have served the Tottenham community and carried on Bernie Grant’s legacy over the past decade.