The picture above shows part of a tally: how many nights of shelter at Iffley Open House. Each stick figure: one person one night.
A project born of a desire, of an idea, of a need, of the coldest night of the year.
I took a small part in it, volunteering there one morning a week.
Each person, resident or volunteer carry their histories and their stories, into the space defined by a roof, a space between people, a refuge.
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Oxford: a very affluent place, with a huge surplus of material goods and a housing crisis.
There is a deficit of love. Homelessness, its unspeakable harshness, the toll it takes on people, a symptom of this deficit.
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On 28th February Wadham College re-took possession of the Iffley Road building after almost 2 months.
On 13th March, the University re-took possession of Osney Mill after two weeks of occupancy.
What comes next? And for whom?
https://www.facebook.com/pg/IffleyOpenHouse/posts/
Iffley Open House February 2017
Osney Open house 6th March 2017
Osney Open House Eviction day, 13th March 2013
Bruno Guastalla 