Community in the Making
A neighbourhood in the future
In 2017-2018, I developed a long-term participatory arts-based workshop at the Bromley by Bow Centre (BbBC), a pioneering charity in Tower Hamlets, one of the most diverse and economically disadvantaged boroughs in the UK. I was invited to develop a collaborative project as part of the ‘Unleashing Healthy Communities Project’, a two-year qualitative research initiative lead by a team of BbBC researchers, Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin, Becky Seale, and Naomi Mead, in partnership with Public Health England. The goal of this research project was to understand the effectiveness of the programmes offered by the Bromley by Bow Centre (.e.g. GP practice, Community Centre, “Money management”) in improving the health and wellbeing of its community members.
For six months I worked both independently and in collaboration with Becky Seale, core teams of community researchers (people living in the BbB neighbourhood) and the designer Axel Feldmann to develop the workshops, which then resulted in an exhibition led by community members that was guided by the question: ‘what makes a good life for you?’.
Each weekly workshop explored four themes related to the notion of a “good life” that had emerged from the previous two-year research study: (1) wellbeing & confidence, (2) connection, (3) work and volunteering, (4) home and environment. I facilitated each workshop, in collaboration with the team, by using a participatory approach inspired by Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which also involved a process of discussion and art-making. The local community was involved in each step of this process, from creating the artworks for the “Connected Dreams” exhibition to designing the exhibition itself and the poster for its promotion.
The workshops and the resulting exhibition followed a grassroots model, that is, the initial aim was based on the ideal of distributing power so as the local residents could devise changes in the community of Bromley by Bow.
The one-day exhibition attracted over 200 local people and included a programme of free activities, including a discussion that turned into a debate with John Biggs, the Tower Hamlets mayor, entitled “How do we make our dreams for Bromley by Bow real?”.
Catalogue
A booklet edited by myself, Becky Seale and Axel Fedmann was published online and in print in order to share the findings of the workshops and the exhibition with policy makers and the local communities.
Publisher: Bromley by Bow Centre (BbBC)
72 pages
16cm × 21cm
Format: Paperback
2018
Credits
Community in the Making was commissioned by the Bromley by Bow Centre (BbBC).
Artist: Romeo Gongora
Participants: Local communities of Bromley by Bow (London, UK)
BbBC Researcher: Becky Seale
Community Researchers: Nina Begum, Maisha Chowdhury, Reverend James Olanipekun
Designer: objectif design (Axel Feldmann)
Social Media: Sergio Del Prado
Risk Assessment Officer: Simeon Tubi
Partnership: Public Health England, The Health Foundation, Welcome trust
Acknowledgements: thank you to the participants for their generosity.
Biography
Romeo Gongora is a Canadian-Guatemalan visual artist and PhD researcher in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London (UK). Since 2008, he has conducted major collaborative projects that interact with the social sphere, integrating politics and pedagogy in the practice of performance. He is the recipient of several grants and has shown his work at, amongst others, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (Canada), HISK (Belgium), Centre of Art Torun (Poland), Centre Makan (Jordan) and Leonard&Bina Ellen Gallery (Canada). He has been an artist-in-residence at, among others, the Rijksakademie (Netherlands, 2007-08), the Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Germany, 2009) and Acme Studios (UK, 2016).
Website by Principal
Curriculum vitæ
Education
Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK, 2017- (PhD)
Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, CA, 2002-2005 (MA)
Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, CA, 1995-1998 (BA)
Solo exhibitions/projects (selected)
2018 Bromley by Bow Center, London, UK, community-making project, 2017-18
2017 Truck, Calgary, CA
2016 Acme studio, London, UK
2015 3e Imperial, Granby, CA (exh. website)
2014 Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montreal, CA (exh. website)
2013 Laura Mars GRP, Berlin, DE
2012 Museu de Arte de Goiania, Goiania, BR
2009 Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, DE, (exh. cat.)
2009 Pari Nadimi Gallery, Toronto, CA
2007 Dazibao, Centre de photographies actuelles, Montréal, CA, ‘Sincère’
2006 Gallery 44, Center for Contemporary Photography, Toronto, CA, ‘Recovery’, (exh. cat.)
2006 Optica, Contemporary art center, Montréal, CA, ‘Logiques de l’arrachement’
Group exhibitions/performance (selected)
2018 Sur, Toronto, CA
2018 Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK, “Communities and Commonalities”, performance, in collaboration with Sue Mayo
2016 Open School East, London, UK, lecture-performance, with cur. Juliette Desorgues (ICA)
2016 articule, Montreal, CA, exhibition, cur. Dominique Fontaine
2015 Rencontres de Bamako – Biennale Africaine de la Photographie, cur. Bisi Silva
2014 Festival Belluard, Fribourg, CH, performance
2013 Kas Kin ArtStudio, Kinshasa, CD
2012 Centro Cultural Chola Bravas, Lima, PE, performance
2011 Teatro Libre, Grado Cero: teatralidades expandidas, Bogota, CO, performance
2010 Contemporary Art Center, Lagos, NG, performance/workshop
2010 The Office, Berlin, GE, ‘Perform a lecture’, cur. Ellen Blumenstein (in coll. with Olivia Plender)
2010 Makan art center, Amman, JO, “Shatana hill”
2009 The Higher Institute of Fine Arts (HISK), Ghent, BE, ‘Time-Challenger’, cur. Adnan Yildiz
2009 Center of contemporary art, Torun, PL, cur. Joanka Zielinska
2008 Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, CA, ‘Rien ne se perd…’ , (exh. cat.)
2008 Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, NL, ‘Open Ateliers’, (exh. cat.)
2008 MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, CA, ‘Double space’, cur. Timothy Long (exh. cat.)
2008 Dazibao, Montréal, CA, ‘Exposition portative’, 2007-2008
2007 Centre Culturel de Rencontre Abbaye de Neumünster, Luxembourg, LU,
2006 VU Centre de diffusion de la photographie, Quebec, CA, ‘Habiter’, (exh. cat.)
Film/video screenings (selected)
2015 Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zurich, CH, “From the intangible…”, cur. Anne Brand Galvez
2012 Vidéo Portative – Dazibao, Montreal, CA
2009 Temporare Kunsthalle, Berlin, GE
2007 Big Family Business, Istanbul, TR, ‘Some of us try so hard to be somebody’, as part of the 10th Istanbul Biennial, cur. Adnan Yildiz&Ovul Durmusoglu
Residencies (selected)
Despina residency, Largo Das Artes, Rio de Janeiro, BR, 2016
Acme Studios, London, UK, 2016
Aux Recollets, Paris, FR, 2013
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, CO, 2011
Centre for Contemporary Art, Torun, PO, 2009
Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, DE, 2008-2009
Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, NL, 2007-08
Fellowships/grants (selected)
2018 Graduate School Fund, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
2017 Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture, CA, PhD scholarship, 2017-
2015 Canada Council for the Arts, CA, grant for artist-in-residence programs
2012 Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, CA, research and creation grant
2009 Canada Council for the Arts, CA, grant for artist-in-residence programs, 2008-2009
2008 Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, research and creation grant, 2007-08
Lectures, debates and seminars (selected)
2018 University of Bergen, Faculty of Art, Bergen, NO, “Rethinking Participation”, artist talk
2017 The Alberta College of Art + Design, Calgary, CA, artist talk, invitation Alana Bartol
2016 Média@McGill, Montreal, CA, international colloquium, Aisthesis and the Common
2015 Concordia University, Montreal, CA, artist talk, invitation Felicity Taylor
2014 Festival Belluard, Fribourg, CH, invited artist, 2013-14
2013 Centre PHI, Montreal, CA, talk with artist Steve Bates and cur. Dominique Fontaine
2012 Universidad Federal de Goias, Goiania, BR, artist’s talk
2011 Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Cordoba, AR, talk in coll. with cur. Soledad Sanchez
2011 Faculdades Artes Visuales, Goiania, BR, talk in collaboration with Edgar Fonsas
2010 Kunstnernes Hus – W17 Studio, Oslo, NO, talk in collaboration with Anawana Haloba
2009 Centre of Contemporary Art, Torun, PL, artist-talk with cur. Kamila Wielebska
2009 e.mobility, Nicosia, CY, invited member for ‘Pépinière pour jeunes artistes’
Catalogues, articles and reviews (selected)
2017 Calgary Herald, “An interview with Romeo Gongora”, Jon Roe, March 22, 2017
2015 ESSE, “Just Watch Me”, Ariane De Blois, dans ‘Religion’, v.83, p. 56-59
2014 Le Devoir, ‘Entre la discorde et la crise sociale’, Jerome Delgado
2013 Taz Tageszeitun, ‘Zwischen Religion und Soap Opera: Lebende Bilder des Kolonialismus” MJ, August 22, 2013
2010 argosbook, ‘Volkskunsthalle/People’s Art Space’, collaboration with Aernout Mik (artist), Prof. Gökce Yurdakul (Georg Simmel Professor, Humboldt University) and Dr. Bernhart Schwenk (Chief curator, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich)
2010 VISUALIDADES, ‘Binding the viewer’, Romeo Gongora, Rosana Horio Monteiro ed.,
Published by UFG-FAV, V.7, n.3, 304 p. Goiania (BR)
2009 Intertekst, ‘I am the Other. In conversation with Romeo Gongora’, Kamila Wielebska,
Laznia Center of Contemporary Art publisher (PL), 132 p.
2009 Gallery 44, ‘Expanded Photography’, Marie Fraser, 145 p.
2009 BE Magazine, ‘Logic of alienation’, Veronika Schoene, no. 16
2009 Mackenzie art catalogue, ‘Theatroclasm: Mirrors, Mimesis and the Place of the Viewer’,
Elizabeth Matheson and Nancy Tousley, 154 p..
2008 Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, ‘The Quebec Triennial: Nothing is lost…’, 220 p.
2008 Blackflash, ‘Scene as Space Across Time: Presence’, Katy McCormick, vol. 25, no. 3
2008 Canada art, ‘Double Space/Douglas Gordon: Double and Elephant Tricks’, Fall 2008
2007 NOA (Not Only Arabic), ‘Treason’, curator Mounira Al Solh: invited artist for newspaper
2007 Parachute, ‘Habiter et Les Convertibles’, Nathalie Côté, issue 25, p. 6
2006 ESSE, ‘Habiter le quartier baroque’, Lisanne Nadeau, issue 59, p. 47-51
Collection/Prize
Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (Montréal, CA), Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (Amsterdam, NL), Sommerakademie Zentrum Paul Klee (Zurich, CH) (nominated), Kunstzeitraum (Munich, DE) (nominated), Küntlerhaus Büchsenhausen (Innsbruck, AT) (nominated), Smithsonian Institut (Washington, US) (nominated)
Teaching Experience (selected)
2018 Université de Québec à Montréal, Montréal, CA, part-time teacher, AVM2000
2018 University of Bergen, Faculty of Fine Art, Bergen, NO, visiting teacher, workshop in collaboration with Anawana Haloba
2017 Goldsmiths, University of London, UK, Graduate tutor, “Radical pedagogy and participation”, BA Fine Art Extension Degree, 2017-18
2016 Bromley by Bow Center, London, UK, participatory appraisal workshop
2014 Université de Québec à Montréal, Montréal, CA, visiting teacher, “Les nous identitaires”, FAM4010-J
2013 Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Cordoba, AR, teaching, performance
2013 Kin ArtStudio, Kinshasa, CD, facilitator for a workshop
2012 Universidad Federal de Goias, Goiania, BR, teaching, vidéo
2011 Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin, CO, teaching, performance
2010 Contemporary Art Center/Triangle Arts Workshop, Lagos, NG, facilitator
Other (selected)
2015 Conseil des arts de Montréal, evaluation committee’s member, 2014-2018
2012 Dazibao, internal board member, 2012-2015
2010 TV-Poland, ‘Panorama’, interview, 07-08-2010
2009 e-mobility, board member, European union survey on artistic mobility
2006 Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, MX, teaching, Video department
10.03.2018
News
Awaken Dreams: Reimagining Civic Space Through Participatory Art
2017-2021, London (UK)
Practice-based PhD in Art, Department of Art, Goldsmiths, University of London
Scholarship, Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture
Tuning-In: Other Ways of Seeing
24 July – 15 August 2019, Livingstone (Zambia)
Residency at the Livingstone Office for Contemporary Art (LoCA)
Come after lunch, we’ve got to talk!
15 September 2019, Oslo (Norway)
Tenthaus Oslo
Artist talk with Anawana Haloba about the residency Tuning-In: Other Ways of Seeing
Statement
I consider myself a researcher, my purpose is not an art object, but a research project that materializes in a transdisciplinary manner (installations, performance, photography, collaboration, meeting, writing, etc..). This emphasis on the process/experience rather than the final product. My work use dialogue, empathy and trust as a production strategy. This procedure usually involves a period of research in which I collaborate closely with different communities. The result is a collaborative work with a deep emotional intensity that aims to analyze the socio-psychological constructs of an environment.
Since 2008, I have conducted major projects collectively that have acquired a social dimension, integrating politics, activism and marginality in the practice of performance. Such as Movimiento Social del Cuerpo, a series of laboratories in collaboration with Latin American universities (Bogotá, Lima, Cordoba, Goiania, etc.) inspired by Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal and Orlando Fals Borda, on social and political questions. In 2014, I started the project Just watch me, event, social club, meeting space focused on dialogue and collective creation, presented at the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery in Montreal.
