Deptford X is a visual arts charity based in Deptford, South East London, and London’s longest-running visual arts festival. We are led by artistic ambition, interests and practice and support artists and nurture community within the borough of Lewisham and beyond. Each year, we stage a free, ten-day festival, working with hundreds of artists through commissions and open calls to bring art into informal contexts and public spaces for all to access. Through collaborative place-based partnerships with organisations, groups and services rooted deeply within Deptford and Lewisham we also deliver ongoing activity supporting artists and our local communities throughout the year. The Deptford X goal is to deliver an ambitious, vibrant and diverse festival that reflects our vision to hold space and advocate for difference, creativity, experimentation and learning within art.
Each year we commission a combination of nationally recognised and early career local artists to produce new work for our specific context. This includes an annual parade that is conceived by a lead artist and delivered in collaboration with local children and young people. Through our unjuried Fringe programme we platform the work of local artists, curators, galleries and studios. Our year-round engagement programme seeks to create multiple access points for artists of all backgrounds, as well as those who do not yet identify as artists, to our festival programming, and ultimately the sector as a whole. Deptford X seeks to make a positive contribution to our locality, communities, and to art, and to lead by example. We are a collaborative organisation and always welcome approaches and ideas for future partnerships.
