This November, South London will host Are We Here?, a new festival that “celebrates music, film and theatre and how, as art forms, they relate to the places in which they were created.”
In this case, the festival specifically relates to Croydon, a renowned hotbed of musical talent over the years.
Are We Here? will explore how “Croydon’s national perception as a ‘concrete jungle’ has been the catalyst and inspiration for truly paradigm changing art”, from Conan Doyle and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s associations with the area, to the talent produced by the BRIT school and most recently, it’s role as the home of the Big Apple record store and the birthplace of dubstep.
Amongst the celebrations at Are We Here?, you’ll find a presentation of This is Tomorrow, a new film by St Etienne which tells the story of the first 50 years of the Royal Festival Hall, a tribute to Malcolm McLaren at the Clocktower Arts Centre featuring Mark Jones and DJ Yoda, three Dubkulture nights at the Black Sheep Bar, a guided tour around The Seven Hills of Croydon, a Joe Muggs-curated Q&A session with Mad Professor, Tony Thorpe [above], Artwork, Loefah and more discussing Croydon’s place in the pantheon of bass music, and much more.
For more information and full listings, visit the Are We Here? homepage.
Photo credit: Brian David Stevens