Street Waders public sculpture launch

Lewisham Council, Goldsmiths, University of London, and the Quaggy Waterways Action Group (QWAG) invite you to celebrate the unveiling of Street Waders by Anna Reading – a striking new sculpture inspired by the Great Flood of 1968, located on the banks of the River Quaggy.

The event takes place in the newly created Plough Bridge Pocket Park in the heart of Lewisham (next to the Premier Inn) and includes short talks from the artist, commissioning partners and local dignitaries.

What to expect:

• Opening remarks from Cllr Sakina Sheikh, Lewisham Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities and Sports.
• Artist Anna Reading introduces the artwork and shares how it came to life.
• Reflections on Lewisham Underwater, the project which commissioned the artwork, from Paul de Zylva (Chair of QWAG) and a representative from Lewisham Council
• Audience Q&A – a chance to ask questions and hear more about the project.
• Optional river walk led by QWAG, featuring historical imagery and a chance to explore the local waterways (approx. 90 minutes).

This event is free and open to all.

Responding to the memories of local people who experienced Lewisham’s Great Flood of 1968, artist Anna Reading’s sculpture, Street Waders, acts as a weathervane, responding to changes in the weather and environment surrounding Lewisham’s River Quaggy.

Incorporated into the design are silhouettes of a kingfisher and reed-like plant forms. Central to its imagery is a risen water line evoked by a zigzag, above which is a hollow vessel, perforated with holes allowing rainwater to drip through. Hanging beneath the water line are dangling, wading feet and cast impressions of smooth black rocks, representing Blackheath Pebbles, the 55-million-year-old rocks found on the bed of the Quaggy.

About the artist

Born in Newcastle Upon Tyne (1987), Anna Reading is a Lewisham resident and artist. She has a BA in Fine Art from Central St Martins (2010), an MfA in Sculpture from Slade School of Fine Art (2017), and is the winner of the 2018-19 Mark Tanner Sculpture Award.

Reading’s work deals with issues around anthropocentric perspectives and the subsequent impacts upon environments, bodies, and human psyches. Her sculptural works attempt to engage and collaborate with the environment around us, looking for lessons in survival within hostile settings.

Reading creates hybrids of imagery, materials and forms to highlight the unruly spaces at the edges of the built environment.

Lewisham Underwater: Remembering the Great Flood of 1968

On 15-16 September 1968, following days of torrential rain, much of Lewisham found itself under water. What became known as the ‘Great Flood’ had a profound effect on Lewisham’s people and their relationship with its rivers.

A collaboration between the Quaggy Waterways Action Group (QWAG) and Lewisham Council’s Climate Resilience Team, Lewisham Underwater gathered memories of the Lewisham residents who were affected, connecting an event over 50 years ago with our relationship to local rivers today.

Through public art, fun-filled river activities and even a new flood beer, Lewisham Underwater made rivers everybody’s business.

In Living Memory

Led by Goldsmiths, University of London, In Living Memory celebrated Lewisham’s diversity and heritage for London Borough of Culture 2022. It empowered Lewisham’s communities to tell their own stories, presenting them through traditional means as well as artistic and cultural activities and events.