Art and craft at Brockley Max

By Rosie | 31 May 2015

As you’d imagine, being a community arts festival, Brockley Max has plenty of arts and crafts events for you to get stuck into. There are several exhibitions running throughout the festival period including one at Beecroft Garden Primary School. The Beecroft Garden Art Show is a delightful retrospective of children’s art exploring colour, texture and light. The gallery is open from 10am to 3pm each day and entry is free.

Crofton Park Community Library is also hosting an exhibition. Portraits of Brockley: Past, Present and Future is a visual display of neighbourhood facts and figures researched and presented by Crofton Park Community Library volunteers and the Honor Oak Park Neighbourhood Forum. It includes photos, local insights, historic maps and interactive infographics. Open daily from 9am.

At Masala Wala cafe in Brockley Cross you can see Ikra Arshad and Maria Alcalá Gastaldo’s Portable Art exhibition. This covers themes of travel, portability and play and includes a workshop inspired by Matisse’s cutouts. The exhibition is on from Thursday.

At My Jamii cafe in Honor Oak on Thursday you can watch – and take part in – a live painting event while indulging in a sumptuous Caribbean feast (two courses, art materials and a tot of rum included). At the end of the Brockley Max Paint Feast you’ll have a colourful piece of art to take home that’s every bit as vibrant as the food you’ve been enjoying.

There’s a London-centric theme to Sara Twomey’s painting at The Talbot. Throughout the week Sarah will be working on a River Thames-themed painting, which you can observe being created and discuss with the artist.

From Wednesday you’ll be able to visit the Members’ Group Show at Lewisham Arthouse on Lewisham Way, and you can take up your own paintbrush or pencil at the Drop In Life Drawing Class at Green Tea Architects at Dragonfly Place at 6pm on Wednesday. There’s also a Life Drawing Class on Thursday at The Ladywell Gallery where a professional tutor and model help you unearth your artistic flair.

If you prefer other ways to get creative there’s a free Hair & Plaiting Workshop at 1pm at the Brockley Rise Centre in Honor Oak Park on Monday. Here you’ll learn how to plait and braid hair of all hair types and how best to care for plaited and braided hair.

You can also make permanent hair adornments in the shape of hats and headbands at the Mad Hatter’s Knitting Party at Mr Lawrence Wine Bar from 7.30pm on Monday evening. Using simple knitting skills, you’ll learn how to knit a hat or embellish one of your own. Patterns for several types of headgear will be provided, but bring along 6mm or 4mm needles if you have them. Otherwise, materials cost £4.

Saturday is all about kids’ creativity, with a range of crafty workshops in our marquee up on Hilly Fields that forms the focus of our day-long Art In The Park family day. Activities include felt-making, comic book creation, crochet, balloon modelling, puppetry and helping create a recycled sculpture.