Residents left furious after council tears down artwork over ‘anti-social behaviour’

A tiny art gallery in south London was removed by the local council after it was claimed to be a ‘hotspot for anti-social behaviour’.

The community group spent a month clearing a dirty bus shelter – only for it to be ripped down by Southwark Council.

The shelter in Camberwell was used by art collective Kabinett to host art performances for local residents, and was also used to donate food products to those in need, such as potatoes and onions.

Kabinett said they are ‘heartbroken’ the project is gone, and they had never gotten any negative feedback from members of the community.

Southwark Council claimed the box was ‘a hotspot for fly tipping and anti-social behaviour’ and had to be removed.

‘It took about a month to really clean it up,’ shared Kabinett team member Camille Moreno, who said they hadn’t expected the installation to be gone so soon.

‘We emptied the trash and sanitised it and from then on we started having programming. It developed organically as more people started to become involved.

‘We would encourage artists to see how they could create street art. Sometimes we would put objects inside the Kabinett to be taken, like potatoes and onions.

‘At Christmas we filled it with plants and encouraged people to take them home with them. It was an experimental project space for artists.

‘We had a team of volunteers keeping an eye on it, making sure it was still clean. I never got negative feedback about it from members of the community.

‘Bus drivers would smile and wave as they passed. People said it made them happy. But anything was an improvement on what it was like before. It was a health hazard.’

She claimed the box was removed ‘without warning’ by council workers at the end of July.

‘The council had wished me good luck at the beginning, but said they wouldn’t be able to help me directly. I still don’t know who made the decision [to take it down],’ Camille said.

‘But what we built is the community around the Kabinett, and that community still exists. I don’t see [it’s removal] as a setback, necessarily. I’m keen to find more Kabinetts now.

‘Some of my colleagues were pretty heartbroken about it, but there’s lots more opportunities to do this.I almost felt it had to be sacrificed so that more people could learn about it.’

Southwark Council said the art installation had not been correctly maintained so it had to be removed. ‘We are big advocates for unused spaces being reworked for the benefit of the local community, as we have done at locations all across Southwark,’ they said.

‘It’s really important that these spaces are maintained properly so that they can be safely enjoyed and add value to their surroundings. This wasn’t the case for the bus controller’s box, which remained a hotspot for fly tipping and anti-social behaviour.

‘We’d urge the artists involved to speak to our culture team about other opportunities in the borough to present work and to connect with local people.’

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