Between the Storeys - Editorial

Between The Storeys
Commissioned by Poet In The City and Culture Mile.
Poets: Imtiaz Dakhar, Murray Lachlan Young, Joshua Idehen
https://www.culturemile.london...

Synopsis:
A collaboration using poetry and film to animate the stories, histories and experiences of different communities living within the Smithfield area. Over the course of six months, a trio of celebrated poets Murray Lachlan Young, Imtiaz Dharker and Joshua Idehen were commissioned to delve into life at Smithfield; engaging with its inhabitants, industries and architecture, and producing three poems reflecting what they found. These were brought to life in the form of three poetic films, featuring local people and places as the backdrop to the narratives.

Community of souls: Murray Lachlan Young
The poem and film explore the ways in which community is fighting to survive in the face of a growingly impersonal world often more concerned with profits than with people. It illustrates the ways in which gentrification and commercialisation are dismantling age-old community spaces and celebrates places in which this sense of ‘togetherness’ can still be found.

Began in Fabric: Joshua Idehen
The poem and film uncover the foundations on which Fabric, one of London’s oldest and most authentic nightclubs was built – on the remnants of a literal fabric market – and begins to draw parallels between the goings on of the market, and those of the club. Famously shut down in 2016, before reopening the following year, Fabric is an echo of the hustle and bustle of market trade, where raucous behaviour and debauchery would have been a given.

Underlines/Overheard: Imtiaz Dakhar
The poem and film speak as the multi-tonal voice of the city, articulating the stories that dwell within the cracks in the walls, tucked away in street corners, buried deep beneath the earth. It envisions the different souls that have passed through the space, the ways their presence has influenced the shape and sound of Smithfield, and the traces they have left behind.

Director: Charlotte Ginsborg
Poetry by: Murray Lachlan Young, Joshua Idehen, Imtiaz Darkhar
Producer for Poetry in the City: Jasmin White
DOP: Tania Freimuth & Charlotte Ginsborg
Sound design: Jonny Platt @ Wave
Colourist: Myles Bevan, Max Ferguson-Hook @ Time Based Arts