DORA PROJECT Exhibition was the final stage of DORA PROJECT. It was held at the Peckham Platform, London (8 April-15 May 2016). The exhibition brought together mixed media artworks made in response to the challenge of visualising sites of suffering and the transmission of memory of past traumatic experiences. Artworks included Mapping a wall installation by Françoise Dupré and Grey Area: a map sketched in film by Rebecca Snow. These works were made following an extensive period of research including visits to international and local archives and V2 sites in London, Germany and France. Also on show was Field Report the documentary film made by Year 9 students at the Jewish mixed comprehensive school in North West London (JFS).

During the exhibition, DORA PROJECT third and last Commemorative Public Events in South East London was also held in collaboration with The Peckham Society. The event commemorated Peckham and Southwark’s V2 rocket victims, sharing memories and discussing the impact theses attacks had on people’s lives and surroundings. A series of participatory and learning activities and talks exploring DORA PROJECT’s main themes were programmed through the duration of the exhibition. Visitors had the opportunity to contribute to POSTCARD PROJECT by writing their testimonies and comments. A PDF version of the Exhibition flier is available here: Exhibition flier.

” Dear Francoise and Becky, I just wanted to let you  know that I spent at least an hour in Peckham Platform yesterday with the Dora Project. I was completely enthralled. It is easily one of the most powerful exhibitions I’ve experienced in a while… well since Bill Viola up in Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

While I realise some elements were straightforward documentation, the archive boxes – not surprisingly – spoke so strongly to me, along with the installation of your combined works. I got a copy of the A3 booklet  which I think works beautifully as a publication as well as document. I loved the testimonies on cardboard… It’s just a beautiful creation that brings extraordinary experiences forward into personal spaces in a very emotive but not sentimental way. My favourite box was Robert Berthelot’s. The pages of enlarged notes along with the letters and applications, created for me an oral history. It was like reading a Homeric poem, with refrains that shifted and added details with each telling … J’ai travaille au Halle 15…  I also loved the overlapping texts and how the map was photographed and projected – the stuttering film of flowers in fields..

Anyway, I wanted to let you know what a wonderful work with the Archive I thought this was and can appreciate the immense amount of information and understanding you brought together. I look forward to reading the texts in the A3 booklet, and hope that the work itself stays visible somehow. All my best, Althea Greenan, Women’s Art Library, Special Collections, Library, Goldsmiths, University of London“