CREATIVE ELEPHANT
Creative Elephant shows the wealth of arts and culture that Elephant and Castle has to offer, mapping the area’s galleries, dance studios, theatres, museums, and clubs.
From 17 May, visitors and residents of Elephant and Castle can now explore and celebrate the world-leading creative and cultural events and venues in the area with the launching of a new interactive map – just as the area starts to further re-open following the easing of social distancing measures.
Creative Elephant, a new website and resource, features world-renowned night-clubs such as Corsica Studios, local theatres Southwark Playhouse and Blue Elephant, dance studios and school Siobhan Davies and Superarts Academy, and art gallery and exhibition spaces such as Artists Studio Company (ASC) and Drawing Room.
Gill Henderson, Cultural and Communities Partnerships Manager at London College of Communication said:
“Being without a crystal ball, we had no idea how events would unfold way back in April last year when we decided to create a website to showcase and promote the wonderful creative and cultural spaces in and around the College at Elephant and Castle.
“And now, we are delighted to be able to support those venues in a small way as they gradually re-open. LCC is proud to be part of a vibrant, diverse and resilient community and we look forward to working in partnerships as Creative Elephant comes back to real life. This is just the beginning.”
Chris Smyrnios, Artistic Director at Southwark Playhouse said:
“The new Creative Elephant website is a great resource, especially with the reopening of theatres and cultural venues from May. I’m looking forward to using it and directing our audiences to it so they can check out all the wonderful offerings in the Elephant!”
Mary Doyle, Co-Director at Drawing Room said:
“Creative Elephant is the one-stop place to find what’s on in the rich cultural life of Elephant & Castle. Drawing Room is excited to welcome everyone back from 21st May for our major exhibition Drawing Biennial 2021 that includes 292 artists many of whom are south London based.”
Creative Elephant was initially developed by London College of Communication, UAL in 2019 as a showcase of local creativity during the College’s degree shows for students in design and screen industry disciplines, such as film and television. Between 19-23 June 2019, 20 arts and creative events took place across 13 venues in Elephant and Castle, ranging from family-friendly street dance classes to exhibitions of paintings, a live radio broadcast, and degree show exhibitions themselves.
A similar showcase had been planned for 2020 which was cancelled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Creative Elephant was developed partly in response to the pandemic, serving as a year-round guide to help support local arts and culture venues during and after this difficult period.
For more information about Creative Elephant and all associated venues and events, please visit the website
About London College of Communication, UAL:
London College of Communication, UAL is a pioneering world leader in creative communications education and research programmes geared to preparing students for successful creative careers.
For more information, contact Alex Brent, External Relations Coordinator at London College of Communication – a.brent@lcc.arts.ac.uk or 07799111059