IN THE SPACE WITH… ALAIN ‘FUSION’ CLAPHAM

It is at the core of Old Diorama’s charitable purpose to provide space and opportunities for local and creative communities, and in doing so, we are fortunate to meet fascinating people doing inspiring things.

We reached out to Transformative Storyteller, cultural producer and friend of ODAC, Alain ‘Fusion’ Clapham to help us by curating a series of murals around our corridors - each representing different things that happen at ODAC and the people that share our centre.

What impact were you hoping to make with the transformation of our corridor spaces?

When I took on the brief from ODAC’s director Daniel Pitt, what struck me was his commitment to diverse expression. Rather than commissioning one artist to create a consistent signature style throughout the building, he was very much about representing a wide array of styles. 

The way I interpreted that request was to call upon artists already known to ODAC and to bring in some of my long-standing collaborators. I was keen to find some kind of unifying theme - so it didn’t end up being a collection of random art. The overarching theme we settled upon was a celebration of the creativity that takes place in the building. 

ODAC has a long history of making and doing. In the 70s, the original Diorama Arts Centre was formed an empty building near Regent's Park. It was a place for arts, craft, theatre, concerts and raves and was widely regarded as a hot-house for the best creative talent in London.

Today ODAC is repositioning itself as a new kind of Creation Centre and we wanted to invite artists who could bring the walls to life with stories of filmmaking, theatre, dance and more. Once the commission was complete, I wanted anybody walking along those corridors to get a sense of what might be happening on the other side of those walls. 

I create a shortlist of artists, researched their work and began the process of teasing out specific strands to explore. Through a series of conversations, with each artist, we found our pathways. Using this process we arrived at Nikola Kozin’s dynamic and colourful piece, which explored creation through dance and movement; Roxanne Williams expressed creation in the terms of make-up, and visual vibrancy; the awesome Artista took on the mission to represent film. Roo captured the creative spark that inspires many artists to create into the early hours of the morning. 

Roo’s piece was one of the bolder commissions, as I was given the opportunity to create an immersive world within an enclosed corridor section. Walking into at the 360 nocturnal environment - compete with rendered pipes, bricks and street lights and a window revealing a dedicated souls doing their creative night shift - is truly a powerful experience. 

Kat Hassan took on creativity as a cognitive process, so her piece captures the alchemic moment when an idea comes to life and inspires the opening chapter of a book or a first draft of a play that might end of opening in a West End theatre. 

PINS has fashioned an interesting career through collaborative art with communities – so we leaned on his expertise to engage local Community Champions to create a mural that is playful colourful and reflective of both the local people and the landscape.

Using portraits, road maps and routes to tell it’s story, the piece holds a deeper story… step back and you’ll discover that the splashes of colour spell out the word diversity. Subtle and beautiful. 

The story will continue with the renovation of several rooms for Phase 2.  We’ll be working with PINS on the reimagining of Office 2 (which we affectionally call The Goldfish Bowl) into an aquatic-themed installation space and Studio 4, which will become a remodelled rehearsal room.

Who were the people you reached out to? Why did you choose to reach out to these particular artists?

I have an amazing community of creatives who I have been blessed to work with over the years on space activations, exhibitions, live events and client projects. 

Roxanne Williams, the creative force behind Crazivity, has been a longstanding creative partner and was the ideal artist to kick off the project – she brought energy and vibrancy to the first floor with her playful and colourful creation.

PINS was my first choice for the community mural, as he has been doing ground-breaking work in that space, transforming libraries, walkways and other public spaces with his infectious style and keen eye for examining popular culture. 

I’ve always been a fan of ARTISTA and her signature style, since the days she would adorn walls around the UK with flying toast! The lengthy corridor wall was a perfect location for a sprawling mural dedicated to the art of cinematography.   

Nikolai Kozin has become a good friend over the years. His fearless ability to create in the moment – whether projecting live digital images or bringing moody and sometimes sombre images to light on a wall at an underground art party – always amazes me. I was excited to see what he would bring to the ground floor corridor and purposely left the brief open - he didn’t disappoint!

Kat Hassan came to my attention via a recommendation from Daniel at ODAC. It was a real pleasure to discover her work, which has a wonderful illustrative quality. I love how she took on the brief and bathed the enclosed corridor area with rich colours to create an uplifting and meditative energy. 

Roo always brings a sense of fun and play with her big and bold artistic expressions. Although she has made a name for herself internationally with her animal-related pieces, I spied a captivating nocturnal city scene on her Instagram and used that stimuli to begin a conversation about how we could make the enclosed space on the ground floor feel like an outdoor environment (I think she still managed to sneak a cat into the piece somewhere).

The feedback so far has been phenomenal – the artists are all excited to have a permanent home for their pieces and to be adjacent to artists they respect and admire. I know from visiting the space on my travels that the visitors engage with the art and enjoy being in a dynamic environment, as they prepare to make their own creative contribution. 

As an artist yourself, and a regular visitor here at ODAC, how do you feel when visiting the centre now compared to before?

I feel a real sense of joy and a deeper sense of belonging in the space. These pieces of art are now part of the history of Old Diorama, as it goes through its continued evolution. I believe that we have made good on a promise Daniel made to turn ODAC into a creation centre for the people. Actions speaker louder than words and these are the actions of an organisation that is seeing to engage local  communities and artists and to encourage people to fulfil their creative potential. It feels good to see the staff and regular users respond to the art in the building. 

How have you found the collaborative process, with us, and with all the different artists?

It’s been one of the things that I have enjoyed the most. Being a Transformative Storyteller, curator and an artist myself,  I speak several creative languages. Being able to sit with a director and translate his vision into a tangible outcome that is exciting and engaging has been a rewarding undertaking. 

Opening conversations with artists, who are as unique as the art they create, is a special process. Making sure them feel empowered to bring their best selves was crucial. Sometimes the commission process can be quite clinical – brands need something on their walls and are prepared to pay a fee – that’s it. That genuine sense of trust I seek to build with the creatives I work with is the key to getting the best out of people. 

It was a joy for me to see a piece I’d seen digitally on Instagram rendered large and in real life on a wall, seeing a submitted sketch come to life as a final piece or trusting the process and letting an artist respond to the moment and create something spontaneous. Community collaborations and workshopping ideas with local people was fun too. There are so many different ways to arrive at the same beautiful conclusion and all of the are evidenced on the walls. I hope this project serves as an example of how commissions can be a win win for all involved. 

What else is it that you’re working on at the moment artistically? Is there anything you’d like to share?

Our BMT Culture Hub has moved and we are now working with a venue called Hoxton Cabin in East London where we’re curating exhibitions, live music and talks.

I’m working with British Land on a spoken word night that engages organisations in cultural storytelling, helping to lend a voice to prisoners with Koestler Arts, hosting a wellbeing talk with David Harewood and a diversity event for Historic Royal palace in December, among other things while growing our culture platform BMTstories, which celebrates ‘the awesome everyday stories’ of black men and women every day.

What would you like to see ODAC do more of in the future? 

I wold like to see more of the same – more collaborations, more community-based work, more spaces for artists to create and hopefully more stories that connect what happens in those rooms.

The murals are indelible marks reminding us that creativity happens constantly. Over time, I would like ODAC to go from being a creation centre that incubates plays, choreographed dance and art into a space that lets us know what becomes of that creation after the initial labour. That would be exciting. 

Thank you so much to Fusion for his work curating our corridor transformation, and for taking the time to respond to our questions! We can’t wait to see what’s next.

Thank you also to Matt Mahmood-Ogston for his fantastic documentation of our murals.