We Breathe, Together: A Day of Community Air Action and Exploration

Do you dream of a clean air future – and want the tools to take action?

From building (and racing!) your own hydrogen car, learning the skills to create a 2D stop motion clean air animation, to co-designing immersive climate adventures and ink breath painting. Meet incredible local campaigners in our Clean Air Village and listen to expert talks.

We Breathe, Together extends the conversation around Breathe:2022 by artist Dryden Goodwin, the ambitious multi-site artwork exploring air pollution produced by Invisible Dust. Breathe:2022 combines over 1,000 new drawings, appearing as large-scale still and moving images on sites close to the heavily polluted South Circular Road and beyond, from May to December 2022.

As part of the day, you can also immerse yourself in Airborne, artist Sarah Stirk’s audio-visual installation that seeks to make the invisible threat of pollution visible.

We Breathe, Together is programmed by Invisible Dust, with the support of Arts Council England.

Programme

Chocolate Films, animation workshops

• Times: 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm
• Location: Hands on Base
• Suitable for ages: 8+

Chocolate Films will deliver a hands-on stop motion animation workshop about the call for clean air and the damaging effects of pollution.

Across the day, participants will contribute to an engaging co-created animated film about young people’s fears around the impact of air pollution on communities and their hopes for a clean air future.

Each hour-long session participants will learn practical skills in 2D stop motion animation and use state-of-the-art animation software to create their scenes for the film.

Learn how to create a simple animation with Chocolate Films

Climate Museum UK workshops

• Times: 11am, 12pm and 1pm
• Location: Pavilion, near the Bandstand
• Suitable for ages: 8+

Join artists from Climate Museum UK to explore the web of connections between air pollution, other environmental issues and your experience.

Create a personal collage to add to a big forest scroll that puts you in this picture, expressing your feelings and actions you can take.

Led by museum’s founder Bridget McKenzie, the hour-long creative workshop uses their museum objects to map these links and deepen our understanding.

Note that as topics such as climate stress and air pollution fatalities will be raised, parents should use discretion about children’s participation.

Ink breath lungs art workshop

• Times: 11.30am – 4pm drop in
• Location: Education Centre, next to Shop
• Suitable for age: 5+
• First session SOLD OUT, following sessions drop in

Make your own beautiful ink breath lung artwork with local artist Cathy Gale, created by blowing onto ink, through a straw, on paper.

Learn how the way ink branches out on the paper mimics the branched structure of our lungs. At the end you’ll have a mini artwork to take home that celebrates the power – and vulnerability – of our lungs.

Join SMASHfest UK who have a mission to widen participation and build diversity in science, technology, engineering and maths, STEM, through the Arts.

Create your own ink breath lungs

Climate Crisis FIRE! Immersive co-design workshop

• Times: 11.30am – 4pm drop in
• Location: Bandstand Terrace
• Suitable for age: 7+
• First session SOLD OUT, following sessions drop in

Develop an immersive adventure exploring life on earth today. Devise storylines and characters, and take part in a range of STEM challenges, learning about our impact on the environment – and the ways we can imagine a better future.

Hydrogen car challenge with Arcola Energy workshop

• Times: 11.30am – 4pm drop in
• Location: Conservatory
• Suitable for age: 8+
• First session SOLD OUT, following sessions drop in

Design and race the car of the future!

Putting the technology of the future into your hands, challenge yourself to design the most energy-efficient hydrogen-powered vehicle.

Use a custom-designed LEGO kit and 2W hydrogen fuel cell to build a vehicle, which you will race on the track to try and reach the furthest distance. Come back to keep an eye on the scoreboard throughout the day and see other innovative designs!

Design and race the car of the future in the hydrogen car challenge

Art and Artists

Airborne, Sarah Stirk

Drop in Free, 11am – 5.30pm

Come and be immersed in Airborne by artist Sarah Stirk- an audio-visual installation exposing the impact of air pollution on the health of children in London. The work combines microscopic images of pollution in children’s sputum, and infrared photographs of children revealing veins, with data maps showing illegal levels of pollution in London.

Airborne seeks to make the invisible threat of air pollution visible. With thanks to Bertha Foundation and Arts Council England.

Artist talks and conversations

• Suitable for age: 16+

Featuring leading campaigners, policymakers, scientists and the artist Dryden Goodwin. Panel talks will be BSL interpreted.

• 3.30pm – Talk by Breathe:2022 artist Dryden Goodwin (20 mins) followed by an in-conversation with Airborne artist Sarah Stirk and Breathe:2022 participants Anjali Raman-Middleton (Choked Up) and Alice Tate-Hart (Mums for Lungs) led by Lucy Wood, Creative Producer (Invisible Dust) (25 mins).
• 4.45pm – Art, Science and the Campaign for Clean Air panel talk featuring Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah (Ella Roberta Family Foundation), Shonagh Manson (Assistant Director of Culture and Creative Industries GLA), Dr Ian Mudway (Imperial College), and Breathe:2022 artist Dryden Goodwin. Chaired by Peronel Craddock, Head of Content (Horniman Museum and Gardens) (45 mins)

Clean air village

At the clean air village you can meet incredible organisations campaigning for clean air across London and nationwide. Come say hello, find out more about the brilliant work they do and the ways that you can join them and take action!

Mums For Lungs

Mums for Lungs are a network of people who care about air pollution. The group was established in Brixton, London in 2017, when a number of them were on parental leave together. They became aware of the toxic levels of air pollution on the UK’s streets while walking around with their babies, and decided to do something about it. From School Streets to the ULEZ, they have been instrumental in helping implement vital changes in neighbourhoods right across London

“This is an excellent initiative. We need an army of Mums for Lungs if we are to tackle London’s toxic air, which is stunting our children’s lungs and scarring health for a generation.” Nicky Gavron, London Assembly Member and former Deputy London Mayor

Ella Roberta Foundation

The Ella Roberta Foundation was set up by Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah in memory of her daughter, Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who died of an air pollution-induced respiratory attack at age 9.

The Foundation is campaigning for the UK government to strengthen air pollution targets, in line with the World Health Organisation’s guidelines for the projection of human health. They believe that by raising awareness, people are enabled to make informed decisions about the dangerous health impacts of toxic air, so they can lower their exposure. These decisions could range from walking through a park rather than on a busy road, to giving up wood-burning stoves, to lobbying their MP and the government for ambitious clean air targets.

Choked Up

Founded by a group of black and brown teens living in areas affected by air pollution, Choked Up‘s aim is to make the invisible visible, and to educate the most badly affected communities about the dangers of toxic air. In March 2021, Choked Up erected hacked road signs in Lewisham, Brixton and Whitechapel, pollution hotspots on the Red Routes network.

Climate Action Lewisham

Climate Action Lewisham is a local residents’ action group working to support and generate initiatives in Lewisham that reduce our collective carbon footprint, and promote healthy and thriving neighbourhoods in the face of our climate and ecological crisis.

Friends of the Earth Southwark Chapter

​​Southwark Friends of the Earth is part of a movement transforming social beliefs and culture, creating a safer climate, flourishing nature, and healthy air, water and food. They campaign for change in their community to make a difference to our environment.