A discussion about the origins and motivations behind the project and its unexpected developments.
Lentonness is a public artwork created by designer and Near Now Fellowship alumnus Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad, in collaboration with Lenton residents.
Commissioned by Primary and produced in partnership with Broadway’s Near Now, the artwork takes the form of an LED light display which shares over 50 definitions of ‘Lentonness’ submitted by Lenton residents.
The Lentonness public artwork was recently relocated, this time outside the Crocus Café in Lenton.
Join Primary for a conversation with Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad and Lenton residents to find out more about the origins and motivations behind the project and its unexpected developments. We’ll be discussing the experience of co-producing public art locally, without a fixed outcome; and the idea of leaving a ‘trace’ that continues to evolve with the multiple and changing meanings a neighbourhood can have for different residents. There will also be an opportunity to reflect on how the pandemic has affected this area of Nottingham, and community responses.
This event will take place online via Zoom, and live captioning is available.
Please email rebecca@weareprimary.org if you have any questions or to discuss access requirements.
Lentonness is an itinerant public artwork that features definitions of Lenton gathered from local residents: a growing list of experiences, observations and characteristics of the neighbourhood. The artwork launched in 2019 at the Savoy cinema, and was designed to keep on evolving — with new definitions added to the original responses, and the sign touring to local sites of social significance.
Crocus Café is Nottingham’s oldest community café. It’s not-for-profit, affordable, vegetarian and vegan, with a focus on being fair trade and locally sourced. The café is currently closed, but will be reopening later in May. You can walk past at any time to view the artwork.
About Bahbak
Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad’s studio practice produces work spanning the domestic and public realm, from food and games to spaces and products.
Drawing on such fields as aesthetics, play theory, architecture and anthropology, his work addresses through real-life projects the adaptive roles of the designer in complex social systems by developing methodologies and tools to actively engage publics within design processes.
Find out more at bh-n.com.