The Oxford Road Times is an artefact; ‘an object made by a human being, typically one of cultural or historical interest.’

Avoiding the old adage of ‘today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip paper’, this object contains within it a series of fluid proposals and propositions that are not necessarily definitive or conclusive. There are no full-stops in this project.

These are propositions that hold in it future possibilities. A living and breathing archeology.

‘The Oxford Road Times’ is an art project led by Lisa-marie Gibbs and Philip Newcombe and involving a diverse and eclectic range of voices from the local communities and initiatives in the area, some who are often under represented.

This is a free newspaper. Within its pages is documentation of a range of happenings, events and workshops that the artists delivered with various community groups in the area during the summer of 2022. It highlights the creativity and the spirit of the diverse and multi-cultural voices of its citizens and aims to engage with the community at large, exploring the idea of ‘Future Archeologies’; the things we leave behind for others.

These not only feature outcomes from a series of art workshops exploring this question but also sound recordings, films, sculpture, text, interventions in the street and other ephemeral ways of making and thinking about how art and community are inextricably linked. Scratching on the surface, ‘The Oxford Road Times’ is a glimpse of what lies underneath.

Thank you to all the projects who supported us, in particular CGL Change Grow Live, The Oasis, The Engine Room, The Lost Museum, The Pavilion and Launchpad 135.

A debt of gratitude to the people of the Oxford Road. Your generosity and input was greater than you can ever know with how you shaped this project from the very outset.

Special mentions: Sumaya Bakhsh, Gareth Evans, Gill G Sinclair, Darren Horvath, Sarah Zalait, Jim Pooley, Mike Taylor

Newspaper editor: Darren Horvath – The Engine Room Designs