The Bloomsbury Festival has been awarded a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for a ground-breaking year-long project called The New Bloomsbury Set.
The New Bloomsbury Set, made possible with money raised by National Lottery players, aims to redefine the cultural, literary, architectural and heritage landscape of Bloomsbury through the lens of the area’s 21st Century global majority and other residents, inspiring young people and the wider community to reclaim the area for today’s inhabitants.
The project, working in partnership with UCL, The Bedford Estates, Camden Tour Guides and others, will feature paid trainee placements for young people and craft training skills for all ages. Their work will culminate in an exciting programme of events, digital activities, craft skills, walking tours and exhibitions in partnership with major museums, galleries, performance venues and blue plaque sites showcased over ten days at the Bloomsbury Festival in October 2023.
Around the world, Bloomsbury is famous as the London home of literary giants - renowned writers, artists and philosophers of the Bloomsbury Set (or Group) of the early 20th century such as writer Virginia Woolf, artist Vanessa Bell, art critic Clive Bell, and novelist EM Forster - whose blue plaques adorn the streets today.
The New Bloomsbury Set will explore contemporary Bloomsbury beyond the Georgian Squares, literary names and affluent lifestyles. Local communities will be invited to present their own global culture, literature and heritage in the context of the original Bloomsbury Set of the pre-WWI era through the history of migration and culture, while collaborations with local partners will celebrate and explore the physical environment, looking at how plans to improve the area will preserve Bloomsbury for the future.
Rosemary Richards, Director, The Bloomsbury Festival, said:
“We are thrilled to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players. The New Bloomsbury Set aims to develop a completely new context for Bloomsbury’s heritage and cultural history from the viewpoint of local Bloomsbury residents of the 21st century, particularly young people of the global majority. We are excited to support them and the many fascinating stories waiting to be discovered.”