Ghostsigns are memory traces, fading embodiments of the shifting operations of culture and capital across time. The remains of adverts painted by hand on brickwork, their presence on walls across the wall points to a stubborn physicality not quite overwritten by the transience of mass production. In 2006, Memory Network member and London resident Sam Roberts launched a research and publishing initiative to photograph, archive and promote awareness of ghostsigns, and to create, as the project puts it, ‘a permanent record of the existence of this important but often overlooked part of our commercial, craft and advertising history’.
In 2013 Sam began leading walking tours of Stoke Newington, where he first began to develop his obsession with these artefacts. More tours are planned in the coming months, on the dates below:
•Sunday, 11 May, 1.20pm
•Wednesday, 28 May, 6.20pm
•Sunday, 8 June, 1.20pm
•Wednesday, 25 June, 6.20pm
•Sunday, 13 July, 1.20pm
•Wednesday, 30 July, 6.20pm
The tours come to £12.50 per person and last around two hours. To book tickets, and to learn more about this project, please visit http://www.ghostsigns.co.uk/tours
