Three projects respond to and reimagine Deptford Town Hall statues

The outcomes of three commissions responding to the contested history of the Deptford Town Hall building on campus are now available to the public.

The commissions mark the culmination of part of the commitments Goldsmiths made following a 137-day student-led occupation of Deptford Town Hall by GARA (Goldsmiths anti-racist action) in 2019. Launched in 2024, the commissions respond to the naval history that has made the town hall a contested space, with the imperial statues on its facade commemorating Deptford’s role in colonial maritime history and for many seen as emblematic of harms and ongoing injustices.  

The three commissions – spanning film, a youth-focussed project and a student research project - were designed to combine academic research with creative practice, and to centre the voices of communities most impacted by the legacies of enslavement, colonialism and empire.  The commissioning process was guided by a working group of Goldsmiths staff, students and external partners. The successful projects were selected by representatives from this group and Global Majority cultural leaders from the Horniman Museum and Gardens and the Migration Museum. 

In April, two commissions were publicly launched at an event in Deptford Town Hall itself, co-hosted with Alchemy – Goldsmiths’ youth mentoring and performance programme for 13-21-year-olds in Lewisham - and Deptford People’s Heritage Museum.  

These commissions, ‘Statues’ and ‘Monument Mashup,’ form a part of Goldsmiths’ Civic Catalysts initiative, which links Goldsmiths research to local needs and issues in Lewisham and South East London. 

Statues by Alchemy 

This site-specific performance film was conceived by artist Reece Piccigallo and created with young artists from Alchemy. Both written and recorded inside Deptford Town Hall, it responds directly to the statues through spoken word, rap and music, exploring how young people engage with contested heritage while also making space for their own voices.  

Monument Mashup by Deptford People’s Heritage Museum 

Monument Mashup is a youth-led project brought together by Deptford People’s Heritage Museum, Dr Janna Graham (Senior Lecturer in Curating, School of Art) and artist Dele Adeyemo to support diasporic young people in Lewisham to critically reimagine the statues and their histories.  

Working across clay modelling, 3D scanning, sound and collaborative storytelling, participants created a digital streetscape that proposes new monuments and new meanings for the site. The project draws on Black radical artistic practices and centres imagination, memory and lived experience as ways of reshaping how history is told and remembered. 

Dear Statues by Yusuf Thomas 

Postgraduate researcher Yusuf Thomas addresses the four naval figures depicted in the statues through an open letter. Thomas, who has lived experience of post-apartheid South Africa, reflects on the legacies of slavery and empire. The letter also explores what it means for the statues to remain on the facade today.