Harold Offeh Platform press house

Platform Press House 2016 Peckham Platform, London, UK “Together with Harold Offeh and other young people from Youth Platform, we formed the editorial board of a publishing house that presented work from within the group alongside contributions from the wider Peckham community. Platform Press House aspired to build on the rich legacy of radical, small independent publishing houses in London and beyond that have created opportunities for artists, writers and creative thinkers. From 2 June to 31 July 2016 the project transformed Peckham Platform into Platform Press House. This summer residency and exhibition redefined and questioned the contemporary role of the publishing house, animating the gallery as a live publication in text, image, video and audio. The content reflected the editorial board’s diverse interests across poetry, art, music, dance, politics and social issues and will exhibit material produced by the editorial team alongside guest publications including local zines, reproductions of books and articles and political pamphlets. A live production space encouraged visitors to contribute to the development of a run of new publications that took shape across the exhibition. Visitors to the gallery were able to explore the resources and respond to provocations from the editors as they made their own contributions to the project. Developed through a series of workshops with Offeh, the group’s initial conversations were framed by the cultural practice of Call and Response. Call and Response is a form of communication and dialogue associated but not exclusively from Africa. Most commonly occurring in musical genres like: Jazz, Blues, Gospel & Hip-hop, it sets up a framework to look at forms of communications, knowledge, power and agency.”