In the ground floor rooms, art from the street has come into Somerset House; downstairs is an exhibition of art from the homeless who live on the street.
Venturing down the winding staircase to the lowest levels of the East Wing of Somerset House, there is a surprise in store. The corridor walls have come alive with “Home is Where the Art is”, a collaboration between The Dickson Poon School of Law and the Hot Chocolate Society at King’s College London and Café Art. Here is an exhibition of art made by homeless men and women as part of a project to ignite and develop creative skills to aid their personal rehabilitation and support wider awareness of the issue of homelessness in London where, according to a recent government study, rough sleeping has gone up by 37% since 2010, a fact evidenced by the increased number of rough sleepers that can be seen at night along the Strand, five minutes’ walk from King’s College’s campus.
The project has enabled these individuals to develop their talents in a variety of work, including collage, print, abstract work, portraiture, calligraphy and views of London life, sometimes allowing the ethnic heritage of the artist to shine through and sometimes taking inspiration from established artists such as Peter Blake and Tracy Emin.
Some are now gaining recognition for their art; Renee Robins’ collage was due to be featured in The Big Issue and hopefully a few new art careers will now flourish.
A great initiative that deserves to be better known and could have an interesting connection with the exhibition on street art upstairs in the Terrace Rooms of Somerset House.