19b Compton Terrace
Sat 5 Sept · 12:00
Members of the Afro-Punk collective Steam Down lead participants in workshop series celebrating Islington's social justice heritage in non-traditional ways; through poetry, rap, beatbox, music production and visual art. Take part in a special series of heritage-inspired creative workshops exploring the relationship between sound, memory, social justice, and local community histories. Rooted in Union Chapel’s 200+ year archive and the rich cultural legacy of Islington, these sessions invite young people to engage with heritage through contemporary artistic expression and collaborative creation. Facilitated by Steam Down Community Host Germane Marvel alongside guest facilitators from across poetry, rap, beatbox, music production, and visual arts, the programme offers participants an opportunity to reinterpret stories of resistance, identity, migration, spirituality, and belonging through non-traditional creative practices. Exploring personal and collective histories through spoken word, rhythm, and archival inspiration. Photos of Germane Marvel by Taylor Hylton, Union Chapel exterior by Daniela Sbrisny using poetry, rap, and improvisation to reflect on social justice movements connected to Islington’s heritage and contemporary community experiences. collaboratively creating new sonic and visual expressions imagining future communities rooted in care, connection, and liberation. a celebratory live presentation featuring participants alongside musicians from the Steam Down Community, sharing these newly developed works with audiences, as part of Union Chapel Open Day (Open House London / Heritage Open Days) Inspired by Steam Down’s ongoing Sounds of the Diaspora gatherings, the workshops centre participation, co-creation, and radical openness - creating spaces where young people can connect with heritage not as static history, but as a living, evolving conversation shaped by their own voices and experiences. More than workshops, these sessions become communal rituals of creativity and reflection: spaces where storytelling, music, and social imagination come together to honour the past while envisioning new futures. Steam Down is a London-born Afro-Punk band, live music ritual, and cultural movement rooted in improvisation, community, and the Sounds of the Diaspora. Emerging from South East London, Steam Down has become internationally recognised for creating transformative spaces where music, storytelling, and collective expression collide - dissolving the boundaries between performer and audience through spontaneous creation and deep listening.
Not the same tradition as the lineage above — a genuinely different thread to pull, if you want one.