Goodbye Granville
What was really important about reconnecting and building community was that we knew how strong and powerful the South Kilburn spirit is.”
—— Dee
co-founder of Granville Community kitchen
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The Granville has been the heart of the community for decades, since the historic building, Granville and Carlton, was opened in 1888. A great number of memories were made here over the years by different generations. Due to council policy, South Kilburn has been losing about 72% of multipurpose community space in the past 30 years, and this building was slated for demolition in 2016. Although the community has tried to defend the building through a series of campaigns (including those directed by Granville Community Kitchen), the Brent Council still decided to tear it down.
The Granville Community Kitchen, as one of the organizations sharing space and as active community members, invited me to plan and facilitate the 'memory-archiving party'.
My Role: Event planner | Material designer | Facilitator
The 'Our South Kilburn Timeline' documents and highlights the real events that occurred in Granville and led to today's community. Along the timeline were presented photos and newspaper copies collected by Leslie, GCK co-founder, that document the significant collective moments of The Granville.
At the Goodbye Party, attendees were invited to share their personal memories of the Granville by reminiscing about their first time there and their cherished part of the building.
“How long have I been coming here? The answer is about 15 years. Most of the time, I was here either as part of the Leslie and Dee empire or coming along to talk to the kids who went to school here. I'm a bit disappointed. But the community spirit is indestructible. Several times in the past, we've had to move out temporarily to other temporary quarters, and the spirit moved to the other quarters and returned to the Granville.”
— Peter Denton
A Goodbye Granville Party guest