Community Narrative: Rye Lane

  • Yasmeen Ayyashi

Community Narrative: Rye Lane

RYE LANE's existing model that accommodates for the diversity of businesses and people, serves as an example for a successful self-sustaining economy that is resilient against global economic unrest.
The work suggests a re-examination of the current standard model of the high street, which predominantly consists of big brands that are devoid of real human interaction, and that a high street can be a more people-centric experience that sustains itself through diverse independently owned businesses, and a flexible economic model.
The installation is composed of two parts: the first being a collaboratively activated audio-visual experience that brings the value of the street into focus, through its textures, sounds, and people. The experience is activated when the last seat in the space is occupied. If one person leaves their seat, the circuit breaks, and the experience would come to a halt. This instills a sense of responsibility in each member of the audience, but also creates a sense of collaboration (we are all, together, making this space work). The mechanism, aside from evoking the aforementioned feelings, references the experience of Rye Lane, in the sense that the value of the street is in its people. If council's plans lead to as little as one business closing down, the experience of Rye Lane would not be the same. The structure that houses the installation is crafted out of the same materials used by the traders to sub-divide the retail spaces in Rye Lane.
The second part is the repurposing of this structure. The intention with this structure is to give the traders of Rye Lane a sense of agency through providing a means for them to take back ownership of their street. It is designed to be modular within the measurements of Rye Lane's alleys, and can be sub-divided. Should the regeneration plans result in the eviction of any of the traders, the structure can be set up in one of the alleys, where traders can continue to run their businesses, regardless of license from council, which can be viewed as a form of protest. It can also house traders meetings, which is something that they feel they lack the space for. The structure is stored in a back room in one of the arcades, and can be borrowed by any trader who wishes to use it for any purpose.
The aim of the installation is to highlight the real value of Rye Lane through celebrating its diversity, and to suggest that any work that needs to be done in terms of regeneration, can be done by working around what already exists, and preserving it. 
Collaborators: Sachiko Osawa, Beatriz Mickle, Nuttanun Chantadansuwan, Geetanjali Sayal.