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Dear List



You might be interested in a small exhibition that has just opened at the South London Gallery – Ilona Sagar: CORRESPONDENCE O (open 13 December 2017– 25 February 2018).



The exhibition explores the history of the radical Pioneer Health Centre in Peckham and its subsequent conversion into a gated community. It features rarely seen material from The Peckham Experiment archives, including interview transcripts, publications, photographs, letters and other ephemera assembled by the artist.



Alongside this material, a film installation by Sagar presents the complex, changing landscape of public health and the social shift towards a more egocentric, user-focused and technology-infused understanding of wellness. Following a female protagonist and group of young boys, the fragmented, non-linear narrative collapses past into present, melding architectural and human physicality with historical and experimental medical research, personal testimony and archival footage.



Correspondence O is informed by extensive research within the archives of the Pioneer Health Centre held at the Wellcome Collection and Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), and contemporary medical research conducted by the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cambridge. Embodying the original collaborative nature of the Experiment, Sagar has also worked closely with residents of the present day Centre on the production and development of the work.



The Pioneer Health Centre in South London was founded in 1926 in response to rising public concern over the health of working class people and an increasing interest in preventative social medicine and social experimentation. It culminated in the Peckham Experiment, a twenty-four year study founded on principles of self-organisation, local empowerment and social connection as fundamental to health. The Experiment took place in a new, purpose-built space comprising large, airy rooms with floor to ceiling windows which enabled biologists to observe members of the local community as they took part in physical exercise, games and clubs. The Centre closed in 1950 when its innovative approach conflicted with the ideals of the newly established National Health Service, though its influence continues to resonate.



South London Gallery, 65-67 Peckham Road, London, SE5 8UH

Ilona Sagar: CORRESPONDENCE O, First Floor Galleries, 13 December 2017– 25 February 2018

www.southlondongallery.org<http://www.southlondongallery.org/>







Lucy Inglis

Archivist and Records Manager

SOUTH LONDON GALLERY

65-67 Peckham Road

London SE5 8UH

+44 (0)20 7703 6120

www.southlondongallery.org<http://www.southlondongallery.org/>

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

MICHAEL ARMITAGE<http://www.southlondongallery.org/michael-armitage-the-chapel/> 13 DEC – 23 FEB

ILONA SAGAR<http://www.southlondongallery.org/ilona-sagar-correspondence-o/> 13 DEC – 25 FEB
FILMS, LIVE ART, EVENTS<http://southlondongallery.org/category/whats-on/> & FIRE STATION DEVELOPMENT<http://southlondongallery.org/fire-station/>
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The South London Gallery is a registered charity, number 312160. Trustee: The SLG Trustee Ltd company number 04720002.

Trading Company: SLG Trading Ltd company number 7120147. Registered office: 65-67 Peckham Road, London SE5 8UH.

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