Artist Emma Edmondson and writer Tim Burrows are bringing the good times back to South Essex with a series of interventions that interrogate the once dominant nightclub culture of Essex.
The project will be launched with major new artistic and literary works.
Emma Edmondston is presenting We thought it was going to last forever, a video installation housed in a deconstructed frame of an old Ford Escort, as well as a series of paintings, Remains 1, 2, 3, 4..., a series of sculptural paintings in enamel and photo transfer on recently demolished Basildon concrete. The works are shown in a brand new space in Basildon town centre during Estuary 2025.
“I remember sitting in car parks, post club in Herne Bay where I grew up, looking out across the sea to Southend,” says Emma. “You didn’t need tickets to this space, the car – you were the DJ. Looking back, I have wondered if the car in the car park was the one last autonomous space – directed by the ravers, owned by the ravers, after all the club venues have gone.”
A new book edited by Tim Burrows, whose book The Invention of Essex uncovered the county's secret history, will be published at the same time. It features newly commissioned essays by music critic and political commentator Dan Hancox on Essex and grime; artist Morgan Quaintance on the end and the future of rave; queer historian Sarah Wayman on the history of LGBTQ spaces in Essex; original Essex clubber Mike Fordham on the height of the soul clubs; Emma Edmondson on the concept of the dancefloor; and a piece by Burrows himself detailing the intense history and potential futures of Essex clubbing, centred around the story of Raquels in Basildon.
The book will be published alongside specially commissioned flyers by Woodsy Bransfield, James Tuitt, Evan Ifekoya, Martin Osman, Elle Reynolds and Maxine Newell, and a new audio work by Osman.
Emma’s new works will be shown in a new space in the centre of Basildon during Estuary 2025, alongside events featuring the book’s collaborators.
Programme of events
21-29 June, 11am-5pm, Exhibition, No booking required
Unit 10 Westgate Shopping Centre Basildon SS14 1WP
Emma Edmondston's exhibition of display of 'We thought it was going to last forever', a brand new video installation and, 'Remains 1, 2, 3, 4...', a series of sculptural paintings.
21 June, 5-9pm, Launch Party, Free, Please book below
Unit 10 Westgate Shopping Centre Basildon SS14 1WP
The launch party for Emma Edmondson and Tim Burrows's collaborative project on the legacy of clubbing in Essex, Clubbing and commune-ing in Essex.
Emma Edmondson is premiering 'We thought it was going to last forever', and, 'Remains 1, 2, 3, 4...', on display until 29 June, 11am-5pm.
Also launching is See you down Raquels: Clubbing and commune-ing in Essex, an anthology of essays edited by Tim Burrows, published with a collection of specially commissioned flyer artworks.
The event will feature a panel discussion with Emma and Tim, and the artists and writers who contributed to the book, to discuss Basildon and South Essex's nightlife legacy.
21 June, 9-late, Raquel's Nightclub Reunion, Free, Please book below
Owl and Pussycat pub, 164 Clay Hill Rd, Basildon SS16 5DF
The official VIP Clubbing and commune-ing in Essex aftershow - a Raquel's nightclub reunion with special guest DJs!
24 June, 6.30-9.30pm, Clubbing & Commune-ing: Dan Hancox and Tim Burrows in conversation, Free, Please book below
Unit 10 Westgate Shopping Centre Basildon SS14 1WP
A talk between one of the book's contributors, the author of Multitudes: How Crowds Made the Modern World and Guardian journalist Dan Hancox, and the book's editor Tim Burrows. Dan has written an essay for the book about grime on the Essex borders. Here they will discuss the changing face of nightlife in both Essex and the capital, looking at the effect of regeneration on clubbing and analysing the potential future of frivolity.
Image: An archive picture of Raquels nightclub against the site in Basildon today. Photo by Tim Burrows.
Collaboration interrogating the once dominant nightclub culture of Essex.
© 2024 Estuary Festival CIC
