Thursday 31st October 3-6pm - Catford Library
Sci-Fi Set Design - Opening celebration with Lewisham Youth Theatre
Are you curious about exploring creativity and theatre design? Immerse yourself in an interactive installation created by young designers from Lewisham Youth Theatre and try your hand at set design, with an activity pack designed by and for young people. The installation will be on show all month with an opening celebration on Thursday 31st October.
This event is part of the Imagined Worlds series, a month-long celebration of fantasy and sci-fi exploring world-building and utopian and dystopian futures.
Friday 1st November - Saturday 30th November - Deptford Lounge
Imagined Worlds: LIKE GODS art installation by Ruth Beale
Eight custom-built giant letters spell the words LIKE GODS, a reference to HG Wells’ novel ‘Men Like Gods’ (1923) an early Science Fiction novel which takes place within a parallel utopian universe. The letters are bookcases, housing over one thousand books, drawn from her father’s extensive collection of science fiction books from the 1950s to the 2010s. books from the artists’ father’s collection. His collection of nearly entirely second-hand books, includes rare and lesser-known works as well as key books in the Sci-fi canon. The collection is the manifestation of a love for reading and for imagining alternate and possible worlds. LIKE GODS acknowledges the human capacity to ‘play god’: to presume to imagine the future, and reshape the present. It also speaks to a lifelong passion for science fiction, and the act of rescuing and keeping books both personally and publicly.
Ruth will also be exhibiting The Stacks. A short film in conversation with the artists’ father, David Beale, as he explores the basement bookstacks of Swiss Cottage Library, selecting science fiction titles, and explaining how he accumulated nearly two thousand of his own books over sixty years. He reflects on his experience as an avid reader and collector, and his enjoyment of ‘hard SF’.
Ruth Beale’s artistic practice troubles the structures and systems that shape society, from institutions to economics, social ties to the public realm. Their work responds to contexts and communities, ultimately to change what kinds of knowledges are valued, who has the power, and who gets to imagine the future. They have worked with public institutions, galleries, local authorities and agencies on collaborative commissions, projects and residencies, including TACO!, Create London, Gasworks, Mansions of the Future, Brent Borough of Culture, Whitstable Biennale, UP Projects, Wysing Arts Centre and BFI. Recent projects include The Hundred Club with TACO!, an experimental creative space that uses arts and play for children to explore social justice issues; and Care & Magic, commissioned by Up Projects and Barnet Council, celebrating 100 years of Edgware suburb with events and interventions specially designed for the local library.
Saturday 2nd November 10.30am-12noon - Downham Library
Build a Dragon with MBxArtLAB
Join a team of local artists to create a large fantastical papier-mâché dragon ornamented with scales, made from recyclables and unwanted materials
Saturday 2nd November 1-2 - Deptford Lounge or online
Introduction to Zines: From Science Fiction to Feminist Futures by Sticky Fingers Publishing
During this talk, we will introduce what zines are and explore histories of zine-making. Starting with the origin of the word ‘zine’ and its roots in Science Fiction fandoms, we will look into how zine-making has historically been used by marginalised communities to circulate lived experiences, participate in cultural production, and imagine our society otherwise. We will wrap up by looking at some contemporary zine-makers and how they are using this form to rehearse, experiment, and carve out new futures. For ages 15+
Sticky Fingers Publishing is an intra-dependant press based in South East London, run by Kaiya Waerea and Sophie Paul. We are a feminist, queer, disabled-led publisher producing experimental non-fiction at the intersection of academia, visual culture, art, design and performance
Saturday 2nd November 2.15-4pm - Deptford Lounge
Zine Making Workshop with Sticky Fingers Publishing
In this workshop, each participant will create a spread through collaging, writing and drawing using provided materials inspired by the Lewisham Libraries’ Science Fiction collection. Together we will explore what we want the future to look like, and how Feminist Science Fiction can enable us to imagine radical possibilities. We will photocopy, collate, bind and finish a collaborative zine, and each participant will take home a copy. For ages 15+
Sticky Fingers Publishing is an intra-dependant press based in South East London, run by Kaiya Waerea and Sophie Paul. We are a feminist, queer, disabled-led publisher producing experimental non-fiction at the intersection of academia, visual culture, art, design and performance.
Sunday 3rd November 2-4pm - Catford Library
Invention: Robots with MBxARTLAB
What role will robots and machines play in the future? Create a robot or invent a machine using recycled and unwanted materials.
Monday 4th November 6-7.30pm - Deptford Lounge or online
Using SFF to tell our stories: Author panel with London Science Fiction Research Community
Science fiction and fantasy is a genre that is known to test the limits of our imaginations. But how can it be employed to tell our stories that could authentically reflect our experiences, identities, and relationships? Join us on this panel with authors Alice Chao, Ann Sei Lin, and Dr Danbee "Tauntaun" Kim as they chat with London Science Fiction Research Community co-director Dr Yen Ooi
Tuesday 5th November 4-7pm - Deptford Lounge
Board Games Night
Come play some board games at our new board games night.
Stalk the halls of the Nostromo vessel as an Alien, or conquer your enemies (or even friends) territories! Maybe even see if you can create a telepathic link with your friends. We have a great selection of games for you to play!
Browse the games catalogue here
Tuesday 6th November 6-7pm - Manor House Community Library
Mapping the world with The Philosophy Foundation
In this interactive session attendees will be invited to think about the world and our relationship to it by drawing maps of different kinds and talking about how they help us (or hinder!) to navigate the world. Traditionally, pirates used maps to find buried treasure; what treasure will the intrepid philosophers that come along (that’s you!) find during these conversational explorations of ideas, us and the world. And will anyone get lost?!
Thursday 7th November 4-5.30pm - Downham Library
Designing 3D Worlds: The Environment Art of Videogames with INTO Games
Join a videogames artist from one of the UK's best known games studios and get a glimpse into the world of game design and what it takes to become a 3D games artist with this practical talk and mini-workshop. For ages 12-17.
Thursday 7th, 14th and 21st November 4-5.30pm - Deptford Lounge
Cinema Club X London Science Fiction Research Community
This month Lewisham Libraries have partnered with the London Science Fiction Research Community to present a mind-expanding series of science fiction screenings in Deptford. See inside the library for full listings and film titles.
The London Science Fiction Research Community (LSFRC) is an organisation of SF scholars and fans, led by graduate students, early career scholars, writers and artists. The Community presents in-person reading groups, film screenings and other events several times a year. See our linktree for more details.
Friday 8th November 4-6pm - Crofton Park Community Library
Future World Building: Creative writing workshop with Make Mee Studio
Join sewing social enterprise Make Mee Studio and the Crofton Park Community Library team for a series of workshops culminating in a collaborative community banner that will be exhibited in the library. We will explore our ideas of an imagined future world delving into storytelling, world building and exploring the rich cultural history of textile banner making whilst getting stuck in making our own banner.
Join award winning writer and local educator Anna Dempsey for a creative writing and collaborative world building session. We will be creating an imagined future world. We will pool our ideas and decide what key messages and themes we want our future world banner to focus on.
The workshops are open to all ages, adults and children 7+, this is a collaborative workshop for our whole local community. You can join all of the workshops or just 1 or 2. Children under 11 must be accompanied by an adult