Van Gogh House exhibition: We Came Here by Harold Offeh

Van Gogh House presents We Came Here, an immersive sound and sculptural installation, and performative work by artist and educator Harold Offeh, which draws on ideas of migration, place and lived history. The exhibition is the second in a new annual commissioning programme at Van Gogh House that launched in 2021 with Life and its most trivial particulars by Brian Griffiths and Frank Kent.

We Came Here manifests through young guides with lived experience of migration who welcome visitors into Van Gogh’s former home on Hackford Road in Stockwell, south London. Throughout the rooms of the house, sound, video and sculptural interventions reflect on the diverse narratives of migrant individuals, groups and organisations who came to live in Stockwell, Brixton and other parts of London.

Exploring the life of the twenty-year old Vincent Van Gogh during his tenure at Hackford Road, Offeh became intrigued by the idea of the artist as a ‘migrant’ in London. During a three-month residency at Van Gogh House in 2021, Offeh investigated Lambeth Archives, Black Cultural Archives and other historical sources researching the history of immigration to Stockwell and Brixton since Van Gogh left London over a century ago. We Came Here builds on these stories and narratives, mapping on the perspectives of young migrants arriving in contemporary London, to build an idiosyncratic collection of accounts across generations.

Livia Wang, Creative Director at Van Gogh House said, “It is rare that Van Gogh is looked at through the lens of being a migrant. Instead, he is written about, and identifies himself as a traveller and a cosmopolitan. Harold’s line of enquiry has already brought up many questions of what it means to be a stranger in a city, and how this experience is shaped, perceived and documented. I am excited to see what stories he will uncover”.

Harold Offeh works in a range of media including performance, video, photography, learning and social arts practice. He is interested in the space created by the inhabiting or embodying of histories, often using humour to confront the viewer with historical narratives and contemporary culture. He has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally including at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, South London Gallery, Kettle’s Yard, Wysing Art Centre, Studio Museum Harlem, MAC VAL, Kunsthal Charlottenborg and Art Tower Mito.

Van Gogh House has been owned and managed by the Wang family since 2012. A 7-year restoration project completed in 2019 led by Creative Director Livia Wang has established a new centre for the production and presentation of contemporary art, and a working domestic space sensitive to the history and heritage of the building. The family also run San Mei Gallery in south London, an independent space for contemporary art, committed to research-led, educational and collaborative exchanges.

We Came Here by Harold Offeh, 8 September 2022 – 18 December 2022, Van Gogh House, 87 Hackford Road, London SW9 0RE. Open Wednesday – Sunday, 12:00 – 6:00pm. Tickets £7.50 full price, £4 concessions (16-25, Students, OAP, Unemployed, Disabled), £3.75 Art Fund members, free for under 18s, Museums Association and ICOM members.  Private tours led by the Community Engagement Guides are available for group bookings with discounts for charities and community organisations. For further information www.vangoghhouse.co.uk