In 1986, an exhibition called Chambres d’Amis took contemporary art beyond the confines of the museum setting and into the homes of 58 residents in Ghent. Forty years on, a similar experiment is taking place, but on a small street in Peckham, south-east London.
Rooms of Neighbours is the brainchild of curator Ben Broome, who came across Chambres d’Amis when he was between institutional jobs. With time on his hands and an urge to get to know his neighbours better, he began to wonder how he could apply the idea to his own community, but with a broader focus. Unlike the exhibition in Ghent, which mostly took place in the homes of art world friends and museum patrons, his own street – a mix of council and privately owned flats and houses – represented a wider demographic, with different age groups, social classes and diasporas. Few of the residents had any prior connection to the art world, he tells me: “The majority of people have never been to the Tate; they have never even been to the South London Gallery, which is a local institution. But that’s not to say some of the neighbours aren’t really creative.”
