Collecting the memories of Lewisham residents
In November 2022, a pop-up Memory Store was erected in Lewisham Shopping Centre for nine days.
The interactive installation was designed and operated by the In Living Memory delivery team and its aim was to gather stories of the town centre, prompting shoppers to share their memories of lost shops, amenities and events.
Riverdale
The stall recreated two lost retail spaces; a 70s record store and a 90s video shop named Riverdale Records / Riverdale Video respectively, after the original name for the shopping centre.
Both spaces featured era-specific concept media about lost shops and significant events. Facilitators engaged passersby with mock VHS boxes and 12″ record sleeves, inviting them to share a written memory or record an video on a 90s camcorder.
Local people shared their personal memories of the shopping centre play-area, gigs at the Odeon, the bridge to Army and Navy and the market, amongst many more.
Archive
Around 140 memories were collected across the project. These memories have been scanned and uploaded to the In Living Memory Digital Archive as a contribution to the people’s history of the borough.
Browse some archive highlights here.
Consultation
The memories gathered through the Memory Stores were analysed and coded into ten themes, which in turn informed the design of an interactive display in Lewisham Shopping Centre. This display was part of the public consultation on the future redevelopment of the shopping centre undertaken by developers LandSec.
Each theme informed the design of a VHS video cassette cover in the style of a retro movie or TV show. Inside each VHS case were memories relating to each theme, and visitors were encouraged to share their responses by ranking the themes from most to least important for the redevelopment of the shopping centre.
