LANDLESS IN OXFORD
a residency at Ovada Warehouse, June-July 2022
responding to the housing crisis in Oxford
responding to the housing crisis in Oxford
In 2021 it was reported that Oxford, a city of 150,000 people, had over 2.5k households on the council housing waiting list, with hundreds more sleeping out on the streets.
The stark reality is hard to miss, the homeless, wrapped in cardboard and soiled sheets, are strewn throughout the city of limestone spires and towering gated doorways – the injustice of the inequality that much more striking whilst surrounded by such resounding privilege and wealth.
The stark reality is hard to miss, the homeless, wrapped in cardboard and soiled sheets, are strewn throughout the city of limestone spires and towering gated doorways – the injustice of the inequality that much more striking whilst surrounded by such resounding privilege and wealth.
The situation is complex, with no easy answers. I spoke to as many people as I could, collecting interviews with scholars and students, housing initiatives and co-ops, homeless charities and property developers.
From these interviews I created a series of spoken word pieces, which I recorded and performed live at the Oxford Poetry Library and Ovada Warehouse Gallery.
From these interviews I created a series of spoken word pieces, which I recorded and performed live at the Oxford Poetry Library and Ovada Warehouse Gallery.