Introducing our third round of successful Cultural Micro-commissions, supporting 4 Wandsworth based creatives, during the London Borough of Culture year, to create new artworks with grants of up to £1000 each.
Reuben Abraham will partner with HMP Wandsworth to provide mindfulness painting and self-authoring journaling tools - comprising mandala painting kits and guided reflection journals with markers - to 100 prisoners and staff.
Ozge Gozturk will lead a poetry and interviews project involving the community of Putney Library, focusing on ‘how spaces can change lives’ and reflecting the happiness that the library has brought to her community, with an exhibition of the poems and a celebration event.
Storyteller Hilaire will create three ‘Winter Walks for Well-being and Writing’ – a combination of guided walks and creative writing workshops for Wandsworth residents, culminating in the publication of a poetry booklet.
Following the success of Battersea Anthology Volume 1, a literary magazine supported by Wandsworth Council’s Make Art in Nine Elms scheme, Founder and Editor Priscilla Young will publish a second edition that celebrates London Borough of Culture 2025, exploring how food culture connects, unites, heals, nourishes, and activates our local community.
Priscilla Yeung
Priscilla Yeung is a literary writer and performance artist based in London.
Her work has appeared in TORCH Magazine by the University of Oxford and the TOKEN Anthology, published by the Deptford Literature Festival, among other publications.
She was awarded First Runner-Up in the Bai Meigui Creative Writing Competition.
Priscilla is the founder and editor-in-chief of Battersea Anthology, a literary magazine that celebrates neighbourhood stories and connections through everyday lenses, such as food and pets. Her creative practice focuses on exploring power and agency in the lives of modern working women.
Ozge Gozturk
Ozge Gozturk is a British-Turkish, hearing-impaired, exophonic writer based in London. She holds a BS in Engineering and an MA in Creative Writing from Roehampton University, London.
Her Turkish debut novel, Lupu (an UpLit thriller), was published by Okuyan Us.
Her various short fiction works have appeared in magazines across the US, the Netherlands, Malawi, the UK, and Türkiye, including KaosGL, Feminine Collective Raw (USA), Bending Genres Journal (USA), Peepal Press-David Oluwale Anthology, Magma Poetry, and others.
Her first short play was selected for Rapid Writers Response by Theatre 503 and was staged. She also wrote one episode of The Wandsworth Way radio play, produced by Theatre 503.
Her poetry awards include being shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, David Oluwale Prize, Deptford Literary Festival Disabled Poets Prize by Spread the Word, and securing 3rd place in the Charles Causley Prize.
Her screenplay awards include being a semi-finalist for Flickers Rhode Island FF (Academy Award Qualified), a finalist for RIFF, California Independent FF, and EQU Paris, among others. She is also the director of the London Independent Story Prize CIC, established in 2018.
Hilaire
Hilaire is a creative writer and also leads guided walks in Battersea. She is co-author with Joolz Sparkes of the poetry collection London Undercurrents, recently reissued by J&H Press. The book uncovers the hidden histories of London’s unsung heroines, north and south of the river. In 2022, her found ~ flow ~ flux project, commissioned by Wandsworth Council, culminated in the publication of a booklet of found text poems created by local residents from words and phrases found on walks around Nine Elms. She has led walks as part of the London Festival of Architecture, and run poetry workshops in local libraries and at 575 Wandsworth Road. Hilaire has a keen interest in local heritage and urban nature, which often informs her writing. She also volunteers at her local community garden in Battersea.
Reuben Abraham
Reuben Abraham is an engineer, designer, artist and entrepreneur on a mission to reintroduce creative non-digital tools for focus, mindfulness, calm and mental wellbeing. Through his company Zenn Meditation Art, his project combines the ancient therapeutic practice of mandala painting with self- reflective journaling.
Mandalas hold deep spiritual significance in Buddhist and Hindu traditions and have been used for thousands of years as a tool for meditation and focus. Mandala painting bridges the gap between art and spirituality providing a unique way to practice creativity and mindfulness transforming the simple act of colouring into a form of meditation. Journaling on the other hand, more than just an act of record keeping—has been shown to alleviate stress and enhance mental wellbeing, decluttering the mind and providing emotional regulation.
Recently, through partnerships with 'Friends of' charity organizations, Reuben provided journals to some of London's largest hospitals, including Guy's & St. Thomas's, Royal Marsden Chelsea, Queen Mary's Hospital Roehampton and St. George's Hospital, bringing contemplative art practices to patients and healthcare workers.
Reuben holds a double master's degree in Innovation Design Engineering from the prestigious joint program run by Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art. His unconventional path to art and design began in Kerala, South India, followed by a Bachelor's degree in Business and Engineering from Drexel University, Philadelphia and six years in investment banking at JP Morgan Chase in New York and Delaware. Since relocating to London to pursue his passion for art and design in 2022, he has lived and worked in Wandsworth, where he founded both Zenn Meditation Art and Wandsworth Technologies Ltd. His micro-commission project for Wandsworth Borough of Culture will bring art and creative outlets to residents of Wandsworth and the surrounding boroughs, expanding access to meditative practices in environments where mental wellness support is critically needed.
