Brockley Society is one of four local Heritage Partners who have been invited to partner with Goldsmiths’ Hacksmiths in Heritage Hack – a ‘Hackathon’ as part of the ‘Being Human’ Humanities festival. The event will take place this weekend, between 10am Saturday 17th and 5pm Sunday 18th November 2018, at Goldsmiths in New Cross.
“Join Hacksmiths for a two-day invention marathon to create novel, impactful tech solutions that breathe new life into Lewisham’s past.
People of all abilities are invited to collaborate and build awesome projects addressing the tech and digital challenges of four London heritage organisations.
Framed by the research of Goldsmiths historian Dr John Price and anthropologist Dr Charlotte Joy, help shape how the public engage with the Horniman Museum’s new World Gallery, the Lewisham Local History Society Museum Collection, the work of the Brockley Society, and a public artwork commemorating the 1977 Battle of Lewisham.”
‘Hacksmiths’ is the student-run tech society at Goldsmiths. Their mission is to provide an opportunity for people in all departments and from all backgrounds the chance to learn about, and play with, technology.
The aim is for the Hacksmiths hackers to form their own small teams, who will then use a variety of software tools to develop ideas addressing each challenge. In the best traditions of hackathons, the hackers, fuelled by pizzas (or similar), will work overnight, aiming to present their solutions at 1pm on Sunday afternoon. A prize is available for the best idea addressing each challenge.
Hacksmiths at work
Brockley’s Society’s challenge is:
“How can we bring to life the history of the Brockley conservation area and surrounds, making use of the documents, images and audio recordings held in our archive?”
We are hoping that the hackers will come up with some clever ideas for how we could make the material in the Brockley Society archive more interesting and accessible to the public.
The event is open to the public throughout Saturday until around 6pm, and again on Sunday morning; watch the presentations at 1pm on Sunday afternoon.
You do not need a ticket – just turn up: room RHB300, Richard Hoggart Building, Goldsmiths (entrance off Lewisham Way).
The schedule for the event is as follows:
Saturday, 17 November 2018
10:00 Doors open
11:00 Introduction by Nathaniel Okenwa, President of Hacksmiths
11:15 Heritage partners present challenges:
-
Richard Hoggart Building on Lewisham Way
Horniman Museum
- Battle of Lewisham Mural
- Lewisham Local History Society Museum Collection
- Brockley Society
12:00 Lunch
14:00 Talks, workshops and field trips from our heritage partners
Afternoon/evening/overnight: Hacksmiths teams develop and work on ideas
Code… Hacksmiths make this do interesting things!
Sunday, 18 November 2018
Morning: Hacksmiths teams finalise ideas
13:00 Project presentations and showcase
14:00 Prizes and photos
The event will be accompanied by two small exhibitions:
- Remembering the Battle of Lewisham 40 years on (Goldsmiths)
- Home computing: 1900 – 1998 (Lewisham Local History Society)
Location
Room RHB 300
Richard Hoggart Building
Goldsmiths, University of London
8 Lewisham Way
London
SE14 6NW
More details of the Hackathon can be found on the Eventbrite website, but you do not need to book to come along:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/heritage-hack-tickets-50900457639