by Carole Barclay
Valence
House in Dagenham may seem to some an unlikely venue for an exhibition about
the occult arts – but the Bruja exhibition, the word is simply the Spanish
for witch, has considerable interest in the London borough that was once part
of south Essex.
This modest display of sketches, paintings
and ‘magic’ paraphernalia by Alisha Ward is tucked away in one of the rooms of
this historic moated manor house, which goes back to the 13th
century. It now contains permanent exhibitions on history and life in Barking
and Dagenham, including displays from the old London County Council’s massive Becontree
Estate.
Alisha Ward is an artist, illustrator and
art student from London. She says that her work traditionally “takes the basis
of the female form, using this as a catalyst for ideas which revolve around
mental illness and the human condition, and takes a narrative form
incorporating mythology, folklore, gothic, literature and pop culture
references.”
In this exhibition in the Whalebone
Gallery, Alisha combines the iconography of magic with her interest in
folklore, film and the spooky side of life to create a narrative of the
landscape of human experience.
It’s well worth a visit if you’re in the
area and the rest of the museum is packed with interesting displays that
reflect life in the borough from the Stone Age onwards, as well as a gallery
dedicated to the social impact that the building of a massive council estate in
the 1920s and the subsequent arrival of the Ford Motor Company had on what had
been a rural village on the outskirts of London. There’s a ‘cinema’ that shows
newsreels about Dagenham on a continuous reel and a very good café at the
nearby visitors centre.
Valence House is not the easiest to find
if you don’t know your way around the estate, so take a map with you. The
nearest stations are Chadwell Heath and Dagenham Heathway, but they are both a
20 minute walk away from the park. Admission is free and the museum is open
Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 16:00; and the exhibition runs until 6th
May. Admission is free at:
Valence House Museum
Becontree Avenue
Dagenham RM8 3HT
Phone: 020 8227 5293 or 2034
