Another Utopia exhibition opens at Swiss Cottage Gallery

The latest free exhibition at Swiss Cottage Gallery explores the housing co-operative movement of the 1970s and 80s in Camden.

Another Utopia presents the development of the Abeona Housing Co-operative in Gospel Oak. Artist Albert Potrony worked in collaboration with members of the co-operative and local volunteers on a year-long project. Together they traced the roots of the co-operative and Abeona’s relation to the peace, feminism and gay liberation movements.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is a film narrated by Abeona founding members. The original residents describe how the houses offered affordable housing for young single people as well as safe spaces for people who were lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The film highlights the benefits as well as the conflicts that arose from communal living.

In 1983, Abeona was registered to provide permanent co-operative housing through the acquisition and development of property and today remains a diverse community of individuals, couples and families.

Another Utopia runs until Sunday 5 April. On Tuesday 31 March at 7.15pm, there will be a screening of the film and a discussion with Albert Potrony at Camden Local Studies and Archive Centre to reconsider the significance of the co-operative housing model today.

Find out more

Visit the Swiss Cottage Gallery web page or the Another Utopia project blog.