Breathe:2022 by Dryden Goodwin
Breathe:2022
18th May – December 2022
Various sites across Lewisham, London
Rosamund Adoo -Kissi-Debrah. Image Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust. 
Dryden Goodwin. Credit Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust. 
Sarah Golding, Kas Darley ,Anjali Raman-Middleton , Amaarah Roze, Dryden Goodwin. Credit Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust. 
Lucy Wood and Dryden. Image Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust. 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Credit Matt Grayson, Invisible Dust. 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Matt Grayson, Invisible Dust. 
L-R – Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Anjali Raman-Middleton, Heath Cole-Goodwin, Tafari McCalla, Dryden Goodwin Alice Tate-Harte, Ted Burke. 
Justine Simons OBE (far l), Shirley Rodrigues + Lewisham Mayor Damien Egan (far r) w/ Breathe:2022 participants + Goodwin. 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Images courtesy Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust 2022 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image courtesy Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust 2022 
L-R: Lewisham Mayor Damien Egan, Justine Simons OBE, Rosamond Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Dept Mayor for Energy +Env Shirley Rodriguez , Goodwin, Lucy Wood 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Images courtesy Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust 2022 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Images courtesy Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust 2022 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Images courtesy Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust 2022 
Anjali Raman-Middleton. Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust 2022 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Images courtesy Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust 2022 
Tafari McCalla. Breathe: 2022, Dryden Goodwin. Images courtesy Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust 2022 
Heath Cole-Goodwin. Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust 2022 
Ted Burke. Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Images courtesy Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust 2022 
Dryden and son Heath Cole-Goodwin. Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust 2022 
Alice Tate-Hart. Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Matt Grayson / Invisible Dust 2022
“Art is a way of making the invisible visible, that’s why I’m part of this project. It’s about awareness, about getting everybody on board. Politicians say people aren’t ready, but they are ready. We can’t go back, there’s no turning back now – it’s a red alert, it’s a public health crisis”
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Founder of the Ella Roberta Family Foundation and Breathe:2022 Participant
“For people of colour in particular we are forced to choose between our communities and culture, and our health – this isn’t a choice that anyone should have to make”
Anjali Raman-Middleton, Co Founder of Choked up and Breathe:2022 participant
Working with Invisible Dust and an Imperial College air pollution scientist artist Dryden Goodwin has reimagined and extended his seminal 2012 Breathe artwork a decade on as an ambitious, multi-site flagship commission for Lewisham, London Borough of Culture.
Breathe:2022 by Dryden Goodwin is a multifaceted artwork combining over 1,000 new drawings appearing as still and moving images on sites close to the heavily polluted South Circular Road from 18th May – December 2022. Relating to the death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah and the growing battle for climate justice, it connects this global health emergency to the daily lives of local Lewisham residents and activists.
Download full Breathe: 2022 Press Release
Breathe:2022 – Air Pollution and Activism
Six individuals from across the borough bear witness to the impacts of air pollution – and the power of activism – through their bodies and breath. Participants include representatives from Choked Up, Mums for Lungs, Climate Action Lewisham and the Ella Roberta Family Foundation, who have sat for the artist to be drawn and recorded as they ‘fight for breath’.
From the 18th May 2022, drawings from Breathe:2022 will appear as large-scale zoetropic sequences of posters on a range of railway bridges and the side of the Old Town Hall, Catford. The artwork will also be presented as still and moving images on a range of JCDecaux roadside hoardings, and will culminate as large-scale projection animating over 1,000 drawings in November 2022 to close the programme.
Breathe:2022 is informed and supported by the project’s lead scientific consultant, Dr Ian Mudway of the MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, who brings over 25 years of world-leading research in environmental toxicology. Currently, Dr Mudway’s work is focused on understanding early life impacts of pollutants on the development of the lung and cognitive function in children living within urban populations
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Courtesy the artist and Invisible Dust, 2022 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Courtesy the artist and Invisible Dust, 2022 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Courtesy the artist and Invisible Dust, 2022 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Courtesy the artist and Invisible Dust, 2022 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Courtesy the artist and Invisible Dust, 2022 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Courtesy the artist and Invisible Dust, 2022 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Courtesy the artist and Invisible Dust, 2022 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Courtesy the artist and Invisible Dust, 2022 
Breathe:2022, Dryden Goodwin. Image Courtesy the artist and Invisible Dust, 2022
Breathe:2022 Location Map
Appearing as a staged visual takeover of the borough over six months, starting in the choked underpasses of busy bridges, through to roadside hoardings and buildings, and finally projected up high – Breathe:2022 asks us to both stay with the claustrophobia of ‘fighting for breath’ but begin to look upwards and outwards, towards the possibilities of community action and a clean air future for all.
Full Location List
Lewisham Way – Former Mothercare site
Lewisham High Street Railway Bridge
Hither Green – St Mildred’s Rail Bridge
Catford – Ravensbourne Railway Bridge
About the Participants
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is the founder and director of the Ella Roberta Foundation, a charity named after her daughter, who died of air pollution related causes.
Anjali Raman-Middleton
Anjali, 18, is an A level student, environmental activist and co-founder of Choked Up, a campaign formed by black and brown young people to highlight the disproportionate impact toxic air pollution has on marginalized communities.
Ted Burke
Ted, 43, is the London Campaign Organiser at Friends of the Earth. He supports Friends of the Earth’s grassroots network of around 25 groups across London
Tafari McCalla
Tafari, 10, cares very much about the impact of pollution on our environment. He loves drumming and biking and is involved in his school eco club.
Alice Tate-Harte
Alice is a mum from Forest Hill who started the Forest Hill Society’s Clean Air SE23 campaign. She also works with Mums for Lungsand campaigns about climate change with Climate Action Lewisham.
Heath Cole-Goodwin
Heath, 15, has grown up in Lewisham. He is Dryden’s son and featured as a 5 year old in the first incarnation of ‘Breathe’ in 2012.
Breathe: 2022 at the Wellcome Collection
Breathe:2022 will also travel to the Wellcome Collection who will host original drawings, and a sound piece created from the participants’ words, as part of their new exhibition ‘In the Air’ opening to the public on the 19th May 2022.
Breathe:2022 – Ten Years of air pollution, and unequal progress
Read our latest blog post looking at how ten years have changed the landscape around air pollution understanding – and how far we still have to go.
Breathe:2022 – Ways to take action
First step to taking action is getting informed – see our recent blog on health impacts and the current landscape of political action. Then connect to local groups campaigning in your area – and groups such Choked Up, Mums for Lungs, Climate Action Lewisham and the Ella Roberta Family Foundation are great places to start.
The Clean Air Hub provides lots of resources and help, and to check the pollution levels where you live – the Central Office of Public Interest have created a great form where inputting your postcode will generate a free air pollution report – addresspollution.org. It makes harrowing, but galvanising, reading,
Breathe:2022 – Wraparound Engagement Activity
To extend the community engagement in this urgent topic, Invisible Dust will present a free ‘community day of air action’ in partnership with the Horniman Museum and Gardens centered around Breathe:2022 on 30th July 2022, and from September 2022 will run Drawing Breath – a schools programme enabling over 100 secondary pupils from across Lewisham the chance to work with Goodwin to co-create an ambitious air pollution-focussed animation. More details to follow
Breathe:2022 – About
Breathe:2022 by Dryden Goodwin is produced by Invisible Dust and commissioned by The Albany for ‘We are Lewisham’ – the programme for Lewisham, London Borough of Culture 2022, with the support of the Wellcome Collection. The London Borough of Culture is supported by the Mayor of London.
Breathe 2022 Artist Dryden Goodwin and Producer Lucy Wood flying the flag for the Climate Emergency Strand of Lewisham Borough of Culture. Image Credit: We Are Lewisham/Manuel Vason
From venues to parks and street corners, We Are Lewisham will tell the story of Lewisham’s trailblazers past and present via music, dance, debate, public art and more. With a call to action on the climate emergency and a celebration of Lewisham’s diverse communities, the year-long programme is inspired by the borough’s rich history of activism and standing up for equality. Jointly led by Lewisham Council and The Albany, We Are Lewisham will bring together all of our neighbourhoods, communities and stories.