Talk of the town art with Djofry Makumbu
An art student has won a year-long residency for his animated film about street life. Djofry Makumbu, 21, a recent graduate from Goldsmiths, University of London, has been awarded the ALUMNO/SPACE award.
He was introduced to the University at the age of 14 via its Summer School programme and has since gone on to complete a BA in Fine Art this year. He has been recognised for his 2017 final year project, Dreams.
His award-winning degree show project was influenced by his upbringing in east London. The multimedia installation features digital and stop motion animation, video, sculpture, painting and performance.
It tackles a range of subjects including street culture, hip-hop and drug abuse.
His prize is a year-long residency in a studio in Old Southwark Town Hall, Camberwell.
The studio rental is supported with a year’s salary from the Department of Art at Goldsmiths.
The Goldsmiths Summer School aims to encourage local London teenagers with a talent for art to experience what it’s like to study at university. 
Students who would be the first in their family to attend Higher Education, like Djofry, are prioritised.
Run over two weeks in the Goldsmiths art studios, the course encourages students to create work with found materials, experiment with new methods, attend critical studies, gallery visits and make a final exhibition.
Djofry was part of the programme in 2014 after meeting Goldsmiths staff at his foundation college, BSix in Hackney, and impressing with his stop-motion animation aboutthe New York Graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
He went on to study the BA Fine Art course, at Goldsmiths, specialising in animation, ceramics, painting, music and live performance.
Alison Jones, a lecturer in art practice at Goldsmiths, said: “Djofry was one of the hardest working students we’ve ever had, and we are thrilled that he has won the ALUMNO/SPACE award.
It is always inspiring to work with the teenagers who attend our Summer Schools, and to see them develop into the calibre of artist that Djofry has become is especially pleasing.”