Housing Corporation News Release

‘Open’ - Stories of Lives Transformed by Affordable Homes

Gallery installation to celebrate the impact of affordable housing over the last 40 years -

1 October 2008                          Ref: 69/08  

A ground breaking gallery installation highlighting real life stories of how gaining an affordable home has helped to transform the lives of 22 residents from across the country opens in London on Friday 10 October 2008.

The installation ‘Open’ - Stories of Lives Transformed by Affordable Homes opens to visitors at GRETRA Hall, Vincent Street London SW1P 4HB – a community hall on an historic Westminster social housing estate that will be transformed into an art gallery for the exhibition.

The Installation has been sponsored by government housing agency the Housing Corporation to celebrate the impact of its investment in affordable homes over the last 40 years. The Housing Corporation commissioned leading photographic artist Tim Wainwright to produce a body of work to capture how the affordable housing has changed the lives of social housing residents and the communities in which they live.

Wainwright travelled across the country photographing and recording the experiences of tenants who needed to move for one reason or another.

The installation will showcase stunning images accompanied by the voices of the tenants themselves, speaking openly and telling astonishing and affecting stories about how their lives have been changed through access to high quality affordable housing.

Peter Dixon, Housing Corporation Chairman, said, “Tim Wainwright’s work illustrates how affordable housing funded by the Housing Corporation has been transforming lives for over 40 years.

“The timing of the installation marks a turning point in the history of the Housing Corporation, as it helps to set up the Homes and Communities Agency and Tenant Service Authority, which will take over its from the Corporation later this year.

As well as documenting what are deeply moving and humbling stories of how ordinary peoples lives have been transformed in extraordinary ways, the installation reminds us of the importance of social housing and the role it will continue to play into the future.”

Photographer Tim Wainwright said, “It has been a rare and amazing privilege to share in these stories, where trauma and a tender courage have ultimately led to inspiration and hope.

I am truly grateful to the breadth of vision the Housing Corporation and to all the participants in this project who invited me to into their homes and shared their experiences with me.”

The installation runs until 13 October and entry is free.

Ends.

For further information please contact Sandra White on 020 7393 2094

Notes to editors:

1) About Tim Wainwright

Tim Wainwright’s residency at Harefield Hospital with the sound artist, John Wynne, continued his 15-year exploration of the four essential elements of being human - the mind, body, heart and spirit. Throughout this time, he has found ‘art’ in his investigation of the nature of trauma and transformation. ITU, a film that emerged out of this residency, was premiered at Tate Britain in 2007. Transplant, a 24-piece visual and sonic installation is being shown at The Nunnery Gallery in September 2008 and The Beldam Gallery (Brunel University) from December 2008 until March 2009.

With exhibitions on both sides of the Atlantic, he has also shown more abstract collections. In a review of Atlantic Revisited (2006) – a series of images taken in Europe and America – Dr Eric Bookhardt concludes “Photography is the most democratic of all art forms because of its uniquely direct relationship with the world around us. In this work, Wainwright reveals that art is where you find it.”

2) The Housing Corporation is the Government's national affordable homes agency, responsible for investing in new affordable homes and regulating nearly 2,000 housing associations across England.The Housing Corporation is working with English Partnerships, the Academy of Sustainable Communities and the Department for Communities and Local Government to establish the two new bodies, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and the Tenant Services Authority (TSA), which are due to launch this December.

3) GRETRA Hall is a community centre on the Grosvenor Estate in South Westminster, managed by Citywest Homes.