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It happened here

It Happened Here was a site-specific, community-based heritage project engaging 12–19 year olds in inner London. Funded by the Lottery and Hackney Heritage Built Environment Partnership, it explored issues of archiving, memory, place and community arts practice. The project arose from a ‘Site Specific’ module at the University of East London, and my interest in how performance might archive a site’s heritage through exploring living (and lived) memory. I proposed a methodology redefining the module to enable research. The project’s research aims were: to gather and archive a site’s cultural history; to explore a hypothetical working model for site-specific research; and to explore the exigencies of performance in relation to living memory. My development of a methodology was instrumental in securing funding, and multi-partner collaboration under my project management widened community engagement. The process led to performances at Hoxton Hall, The Geffrye Museum and The Shoreditch Festival in 2009-10. A short reflective film can be found at th Hoxton Hall website (http://www.hoxtonhall.co.uk/youth/news/detail/it-happened-here-film/). Reflections from the process raised a number of issues concerning the relationships between researchers/subjects and performers/audiences; the selective nature of researching and archiving, especially when performance-based; and the ethics of exploring/representing archived lives. The project developed my understanding of site-specific performance as a research mechanism effective for and with various communities, thoughts presented at Palatine’s Archiving the Future conference (2010). Hoxton Hall now houses an archive of material—the idea of a memorial of process as a process of memorial demonstrates the project’s conceptual strength, and its continuing presence in the fabric of the site is evidenced by subsequent continued engagement. The impact on participants, host site and local communities has been longer-term, empowering participants, building capacity for outreach, establishing archives, and leading to significant investment in ongoing projects from the EU.