We Are Lewisham
Campaigns
Media
Placemaking
Successful pitch to secure a significant cultural crown for a London local authority.
Filigree worked with Lewisham Council’s Culture team to devise a creative communications campaign to support the local authority’s successful bid to be the 2022 Borough of Culture.
London Borough of Culture is part of London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s plans to support the arts in London.
Targeting the 300,000 residents across the borough, our campaign asked local people to showcase and celebrate all the wonderful things we love about the borough. We captured stories, profiles and videos from cultural gems and artists on the website and via Instagram and Twitter.
Responding to an idea first put to Lewisham Council by Mercury Prize Nominated Grime MC, Novelist, we set about designing a launch event that would welcome creative talent from across the borough, but also, allow the Council to underline its commitment to culture by doing things a little differently.
Following the museum ‘lates’ concept, our vision for the event was to break down the traditional set up of placing a single stage in front of a seated audience. With Novelist being an instigating force behind the event, we felt that starting the evening with his contribution - in place of the expected formalities - sent a strong message. The thread that held this itinerant programme together was undoubtedly the brilliant MC skills of BBC radio presenter Shahlaa Tahira. Further conversations followed with Mayor Damien Egan and Cllr Andre Bourne (Cabinet Member for Culture, Jobs and Skills); and Queenie author, Candice Carty-Williams and Rebecca Weef Smith, editor of Goldie Magazine.
By working in this way we challenged our clients to think a little differently about what a Council event could be. At the same time, by bringing different groups together in a single, carefully curated event, we were able to encourage younger generations to speak up in front of political decision-makers and got some really positive feedback from all involved.