MA Narrative Environments

Liquid Histories in Shanghai

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Narrative Environments tutor David Chambers and second year students Ronnie Chou & Tonya Guan have been working with Head of College Jeremy Till on Liquid Histories, the London Pavilion at the Shanghai Urban Space Art Season!

The team from Central Saint Martins has focused on the River Thames as a vessel of stories, both real and imagined.

The installation, titled Liquid Histories, reflects on the river as being simultaneously a public space of the imagination, a foundational source for the city and also an untamed natural power. The exhibition is housed in a magnificent 1930s grain silo on the Huangpu river in Shanghai, forging a connection between the two urban centres.

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The installation is designed by Aberrant Architecture, the most significant component being a bench that takes the shape of the River Thames as it crosses and exits east London.

David Chambers says “The River Thames is an eternal presence in London’s narrative history; today, it acts as a witness to profound and often brutal change, which continues to transform the city.”

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The curatorial team comprises David Chambers, Associate Lecturer on BA Architecture and MA Narrative Environments and Director of Aberrant Architecture, Martyn Ware, Director of Illustrious, founder of the Human League and Heaven 17 and Practitioner in Residence at Central Saint Martins, and Jeremy Till, Head of Central Saint Martins.

Visit here to experience Ware’s exclusive Thames-inspired soundscape.