We are pleased to be able to premier three exciting new film works that have been made to mark the centenary of the Becontree Estate this Sunday. The films include the premiere of ‘We Don’t Know Where We Are In The Drama’ by Abbas Zahedi, Raised Voices & Michalis, 2021

Abbas Zahedi worked with Arc Theatre’s young women’s group, Raised Voices to develop an on-going dialogue around the Dagenham idol that interconnects with the young women’s own lived experiences on the estate. The resulting conversations, recollections, anecdotes and statements act as contemporary myths and symbolically continue the story of the idol.

The resulting moving image archive also records the process of Michalis sculpting a series of copies of the Dagenham idols, a further protagonist in Zahedi’s project. Interspersed into the work’s visual lexicon is footage of artist and designer Madelon Vriesendorp’s wide-reaching collection of naive figurines; her universe of representations of figures resonates with the now visually differentiated newly formed Dagenham Idols. 

Credits: Nikolai Azariah – Assistant Editor; William Barylo – Assistant Photographer; Barry Gene-Murphy – Visual Support

All the films are courtesy the artists, commissioned by Create London and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. These works form part of Becontree Forever.