The Airmail Project

Anyone who has found themselves posting a parcel in Camberwell in the past year has experienced a real treat: what was a bleak run-down Post Office has been transformed by the vibrant #CAMBERWALL community mural, which tells some of the stories overheard in the post office.

It has been a joy to watch, and we have two passionate SE London citizens to thank: Priya Prakash, founder of Design for Social Change, and Matthew McGuiness, the artist responsible for Gourmandizing series of community recipe murals.

Funded by the Community Enterprise Fund, Camberwell Post Office was one of 25 post offices in the UK to win a grant to reimagine what a local post office can be. The aim of which is to establish a community hub with a number of activities to help various local groups in Camberwell, including the opportunity for local artists to exhibit via a pop-up gallery space.

The first exhibition to be held at the Post Office, to take place during Camberwell Arts Festival (June 20-28), is The Airmail Project, by Camberwell artist Richard Watkins.

The Airmail Project is an innovative and ambitious concept: 16 artists from 16 countries collaborating by post. Each artist started a piece of work and sent it to a different artist from a different country; the second artist worked on the artwork and sent it to a third artist who finished it.

WAY BEYOND HOME was started by Andile Dyalvane from South Africa, worked on by Nini Sum from China, finished by Rosie Cooper from New Zealand

The project was born in Camberwell, on a Skype conversation between London artist Richard Watkins and LA artist Lara Salmon. Both Richard and Lara had travelled extensively and enjoyed collaborating with international artists. Through their contacts they secured representation from all the corners of the world, with new friendships formed across many borders. The final list of artists are from: Australia, Colombia, China, Holland, Hungary, Iraq, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, UK, Ukraine, USA, and Zambia.

Throughout 2014, 16 parcels zig-zagged across the globe before being exhibited at shows in L.A. (Oct 2014) and Beirut (Jan 2015).

Posters from Beirut Show, Jan 2015

The London leg of the International art exhibition is being hosted by the #CAMBERWALL team that bought you the Camberwell Post Office transformation.

The Airmail Project will be showing during normal opening hours at Camberwell Post Office as part of Camberwell Arts Festival, June 20-28.  Fresh coffee and croissants will be served between 9am and 12:30 on Saturday, 20 June for the breakfast opening where you can meet some of the artists. At 11:30 there will be the official launch of the #Camberwall with short talks from Priya Prakash, Matthew McGuiness, and Richard Watkins.

The showing of the project in Camberwell Post Office feels like the perfect match for both exciting projects. The Airmail Project parcels clocked up an impressive 262,000 postage miles – and should provoke some great conversations as local residents queue for stamps.

For more info http://theairmailproject.tumblr.com and http://camberwallpo.tumblr.com