Abstract Benna x Young Producers | Thomas Cole: Eden to Empire | National Gallery
1 Video View·Aug 6, 2026
Inspired by the ever-changing landscape of Thomas Cole’s ‘The Course of Empire’ our Young Producers have created this video exploring the contemporary community of Lambeth with poet Abstract Benna. How do you see your home changing? …
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Video Summary
AI GeneratedThis poetic reflection explores the complex duality of Lambeth, contrasting its multicultural vibrancy and skilled youth with the systemic trauma, mental health crises, and violence that plague the community. It serves as a call to action for collective engagement to protect and lead the youth away from a cycle of tragedy.
Raised in a chamber of trauma, land birth. Things have never been normal when ends in
relation to now. A difference? The arrival of Starbucks through the portal of gentrification
and how maybe there's more career options locally. Historical landmarks known to be
world history, a web of youth organisations, children's centres which contribute socially.
Behind the role play of English lay a rainbow of multi-culture embedded in 150 languages,
a magnetic workforce of young skilled passengers attracted to central.
Our labour is a major asset, mostly overlooked. I love this place, where crazy reigns above
from unknown altitudes. When depression creeps up like adulthood, trying to purge the fat out of
you. Places like Brixton, with no church in sight, sits the soul food served from a live band,
hoping you pay. Parallel to a zealous preacher, hoping you pay attention.
This amalgamation of community has earned the right to raise these kids.
Our youth are walking a tightrope, with a free food and standards. Every child is a garden.
We sow seeds to fill them to bear rich fruitful lives. What are seeds worth when sown,
if the environment has crucial ties to the reaper? Lambeth has one of the highest levels
of mental illness in England, half of which start by age 14. Things get harder to heal,
for 15 to 19s then it's either kill or be killed. It's worse when the enemy is internal,
when the psychosis colonises the fragile mind. This is a think tank, a super brain.
We're all neurons connecting to manifest a plan of action, so engage. Do it for the youth,
praying for a meal that they'll have to ration. Do it for the youth, about to die from a tragic
stabbing. The word Lambeth means landing place for lambs, which is a baby sheep.
If the very place of residence predisposes them to be followers, it's up to us to lead.