Lightbox Gallery and Clandon Park National Trust are working in partnership on W for Woking, a live commissioning collaboration inviting artists and community groups to activate our social history through stories and collections, exploring opportunities to understand the connection between historical significance and contemporary relevance.
The Lounge is a site-specific installation by multi-disciplinary artist Harold Offeh co-created with the local community to explore the meaning of ‘home’.
For this first commission, Offeh has worked with students from The Orpheus Centre, young people from Amber Foundation and volunteers from Lightbox Gallery and Clandon Park to reimagine The Lounge – an inviting room at the heart of a home.
Through workshops and visits, participants learnt more about the history of Clandon Park and about the history of Woking and the communities who have made it their home over many centuries.
Responding to these histories, participants then collaborated with Offeh to develop a new work, The Lounge, featuring wallpaper, furniture, seating, film and more inspired by the past and reflecting the present. The installation invites visitors to think about ‘home’ and what it means to them, and a series of events in The Lounge will explore this theme throughout the exhibition.
W for Woking has received funding from Esmee Fairbairn Collections Fund, National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Trust and Arts Council England.
Image credits: The Lounge © Jak Skot