NOW Gallery was set up in 2014 as the first free public arts space serving the fledgling communities of Greenwich Peninsula. With the new Design District now open for creative practitioners, curators Kaia Charles and Jemima Burrill look back on the role of arts and culture on the Peninsula in shaping the neighbourhood over the last 7 years.

Their talk explores how cultural intervention can be a mechanism for change and building community. Charles and Burrill will give an overview of NOW Gallery exhibitions, public art commissions, live art events and cultural happenings. They will talk about the importance of PR, social media and the power of culture to make a place.

Kaia Charles is a cultural projects commissioner and curator whose work is rooted in contemporary art practice. She has worked with artists including Liz West, Yinka Ilori, Conrad Shawcross and Morag Myerscough. Kaia judged the 2019 Creative Review Photo Annual and in 2021 joined the Design Council’s professional network.

Jemima Burrill is an artist/curator. Trained at the Royal College of Art, Jemima is represented by Galerie Houg, Paris, and hugely values this connection with Europe. Public artwork she has facilitated includes Raw Edges’s Steps for Peninsula Square, Alex Chinneck’s A Bullet from a Shooting Star, and Studio Morison’s 40-seater picnic table.