Who gets to write the history of a place? How can a diverse set of voices be gathered, preserved, and shared in order to become part of the heritage of a place?

We led two workshops at Harris Academy in South Norwood. The students were asked to share personal stories about the local area and to represent that story through an object of their choosing. The objects were then inked up, using printing rollers, and printed onto paper.

The stories that the children shared ranged from personal anecdotes about their favourite place to eat on the high street to their thoughts about the renowned rapper who once went to their school.

Squeeze, ink, roll, compose, position, press, peel, carry, careful, lay, wash, reflect, adjust, repeat … we would like to say a special thank you to the students of Harris Academy South Norwood who took part in the printing workshops and the Harris staff who made it possible … smudge, mess, hands, clothes, miss, tear, drop, bin … you worked through it and produced many beautiful prints, a selection of which we are delighted to present here in this publication.