Dulwich OnView celebrates the huge variety of life in and around Dulwich. In fact, south London is such a hotbed of creativity we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to new things to do round here. Here’s a selection of what I predict are going to be the hottest tickets of 2009.
The Dream Machine, East Dulwich
Chuck away your i-pod. Vinyl is back and this is the first place to head for in the area if you’re looking to acquire some. Tucked underneath the café and next door to The Palmerston pub, this is a treasure trove of musical treats, even if it is on the tiny side.
It’s an underground room for rummaging through old records and discovering new surprises. The shop also doubles as a gig space and the number of bands choosing to play cosy gigs there is on the rise. It’s a gem of a place and needs supporting.
Lordship Lane, SE22
Note: as I write this, news is coming in that the DM is experiencing financial difficulties. Get yourself down there and make some recession-busting purchases.
House Café and Gallery, Camberwell
The ground floor of House is a charming little café serving breakfast, lunch and snacks. The coffee is great and, if there are two of you, the Breakfast Basket is great value. Best of all, you can eat as much jam as you like.
But House is more than coffees and cakes – it’s a gallery and a café rolled into one. And by that I don’t just mean a regular café with rubbish art stuck up on the walls. Downstairs is a fully kitted out art gallery space featuring the work of professional artists and designers. Nearby Camberwell College of Art means there’s plenty of quality material on display, and most of it is for sale. Go and grab yourself a bargain.
70 Camberwell Church Street, London, SE5 8QZ
Paulo Veronese, the Petrobelli Alterpiece
A world first at Dulwich Picture Gallery
Still on art, but on a much grander scale, Dulwich is home to a glorious, but incomplete, painting by the Italian master Veronese. It’s only part of a much larger picture, however.
Unfortunately, at some point, the painting has been broken into pieces and resold to a variety of collectors – other fragments currently reside in collections in Edinburgh, Ottowa and Texas. For the first time in centuries, the four remaining pieces of the picture in existence will be brought together at the Gallery. It’ll be huge when they are all stuck together. The exhibition runs Feb-May at DPG.
The Dulwich
Every band needs a concept. It turns out that south London’s greatest indecisive concept band is based right here in Dulwich.
They haven’t released any songs as yet – to the best of my knowledge they haven’t written any music to date – but why should that stop anyone from forming a band? They have a MySpace page, so they must be real. Perhaps 2009 will be their year. I’ll keep you posted.
They’re lovely to look at, especially when they’re wearing spats.
Image: Thanks to davesandford on flickr, with CCL.
