Tracing Posterity is a new installation and film commission by Abel Holsborough exploring collective memory, cultural identity, and the role of community filmmaking in Barking and Dagenham.
The project begins nearly 80 years ago, when local residents founded the Dagenham Co-operative Film Society. Screening international films, hosting talks and lectures, and running open filmmaking sessions in community centres, church halls and scout huts, the society created a vibrant space for cultural exchange. Members went on to produce films about the borough itself, documenting everyday life and a changing landscape.
Today, that spirit continues through Barking Community Cinema (BCC), which runs free screenings, workshops and a pop-up community darkroom for local residents. Together, they ask: