Trustful Strangers Induce Fearless Walks
2026 The Showroom in partnership with LACUNA, London
Trustful Strangers Induce Fearless Walks is the third iteration of The Paddington Square x The Showroom billboard commission. Harold Offeh’s billboard is developed from a series of workshops and conversations between Offeh and a group of 25 young people aged 16 – 24 years old from Westminster and other London boroughs who have an ongoing relationship with The Showroom.
The Showroom invited Offeh to work with the group from the gallery’s Imagining Futures programme, which creates unique opportunities for young people from across London to connect with artists, develop creative skills and explore ideas through collaborative workshops, events and projects rooted in The Showroom’s local area of Westminster.
Through a process of gathering materials, collage, role-play and writing, the group explored the idea of public space and the importance of building communities that care and look out for each other, which fosters trust in strangers.
In generating the phrase ‘Trustful Strangers Induce Fearless Walks’ the group have created a powerful statement that speaks to their hopeful desire to increase empathy and mutual trust between anonymous passers-by as they encounter each other in London’s streets and public spaces.
The group’s interest in performance practices, alongside Offeh’s own practice as a performance artist, sees the work extend beyond the billboard’s physical borders via audio clips featuring spoken-word, poetry, streams of consciousness, reflections and song; accessible via a QR code onsite. To listen to the audio works use the link below.
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