We are delighted to support Emergency, the latest exhibition by Francesca Telling, a former ACAVA artist-in-residence, which will open at Metroland Studios from 10 to 19 January 2025.

During her residency at Barham Park Studios, Francesca engaged with local histories of anti-racism and BIPOC-led activism in Brent. Her research included materials from Brent Archives, such as records of the Grunwick Strike and the Development Programme for Educational Attainment and Racial Equality. This work explored photography, archives, and unionisation, creating participatory projects with young people and individuals from diaspora communities. During this time, her practice sought to uncover how institutional and personal archives shape our understanding of history, memory, and community identity.

Developed during Metroland Culture’s 2024 Peer-to-Peer cohort, Emergency examines education, linguistics, and colonialism from the archives of a 1950s British-Malayan teaching experiment in Kirkby, Merseyside, to the fragmented records of learning found in a family archive. The exhibition features collages, photography, sound installations, and a chapbook containing speculative scripts and oral histories. Francesca’s work reveals the complexities of cultural preservation and the power of storytelling in reconstructing fragmented pasts.

Visit the exhibition:

• Opening event: 9 January, 6–8pm
• Exhibition dates: 10–26 January 2025
• Venue: Metroland Studios, 91 Kilburn Square, NW6 6PS

This exhibition is generously supported by Metroland Culture’s Peer-to-Peer cohort, ACAVA’s Barham Park Residency programme and Arts Council England. Learn more about Francesca’s practice and Emergency at Metroland Studios.