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Helen Hillyard
Helen Hillyard (she/her) is Curator at Dulwich Picture Gallery.
You can keep in touch with her work on Instagram.
Summertime is playtime and this August I am inspired to find moments of joyfulness within the everyday. Play is such a valuable tool for unlocking our imagination and creative potential, no matter how old we are.
This idea is at the heart of our Reimagining Play competition at Dulwich Picture Gallery, developed in partnership with the London Festival of Architecture, which is currently open for submissions. The project presents an exceptional opportunity for a creative designer or design team to secure a public commission that merges play, art, architecture, and design. The design will be informed by the voices of primary-aged children (4–11 years), but speak to visitors of all ages, and – hopefully – will become an iconic site within the South London landscape.
We are celebrating ideas of play elsewhere in our programming through the fantastic Wiggle Wonderland, a pavilion which will host free storymaking and craft sessions throughout August, inviting families to explore art, nature and the world around us. The Gallery has also welcomed new sculptures in its grounds in time for summer, including an evocative wind piece by Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, whose stunning solo show can also be seen at the Serpentine Gallery throughout August. Visitors wanting to connect with the beauty of nature can also enjoy Dulwich Picture Gallery’s current exhibition Yoshida: Three Generations of Japanese Printmaking. This show shines a spotlight on three generations of woodblock print artists including Yoshida Hiroshi, Fujio, Tōshi, Hodaka Chizuko and Ayomi, tracing the evolution of Japanese printmaking across two centuries.
I love the fact that, even within the hustle and bustle of the capital, space for play can be found throughout London. The brilliant Assemble Play are hosting making and building sessions for families in the grounds of Pitzhanger Manor – another iconic building by John Soane, who was also the architect of Dulwich Picture Gallery. Just up the road from Dulwich, the Horniman Museum will be hosting one of its now famous family festivals, celebrating Caribbean culture, with food, music and dancing. The Museum is home to one of the best views of London, including a prime view of Kate Macintosh’s architectural masterpiece Dawson’s Heights.
There is also space to connect with nature in the city, even in the most unexpected places. The South London Gallery in Peckham is hosting a foraging walk around local south London parks, gardens and green spaces, led by Maymana from Misery; a sober QTIBPOC mental health collective. The South London Gallery’s garden designed by Gabriel Orozco remains one of my favourite hidden gems of London.
Of course, no visit to South London is complete without a trip to Bold Tendencies. In addition to their spectacular roof-top sculpture exhibition, I highly recommend the Multi-Story Orchestra hosted, as the name might suggest, within the multi-story carpark. The show begins with musicians spread all around the space in unique interactive performances, before coming together for the full orchestral show. The unusual combination of orchestral music within the severe architecture of the car park, creates for a profoundly intense and moving experience.
