Meanwhile in East London…
Over the years, Hackney Wick and Fish Island’s glut of ex-industrial units and vacant lots have afforded numerous actors – from community organisations and artists, to business owners and creative practitioners – access to and free-reign over low-cost land, studio space, and warehouses. From skateparks to food-halls, festivals to theatres, artist studios and night-time venues, […]
Losing the Plot
In cities, we have less opportunity to stare aimlessly at the sky or find ourselves experiencing the particular pleasure we get from walking amidst blossoms, flowers, trees, and birds. Research shows that we’re kinder in parks, and London is known all over for its legendary proliferation of green spaces. It all started here, too. Queen […]
Unstoppable Green Shoots
At first glance it might not appear to be the greenest of places, but Hackney Wick is bursting with plant life. From the roof gardens of Oslo House to the jostling pots atop narrowboats on the River Lea, plants are thriving. As we transition into spring, nature is gently unfurling, sending our urban landscapes into […]
The Great British Bathing Revival
It’s a Sunday morning, 8am, and I’m squinting into a dark black abyss in the middle of a Hackney Wick building site. And yet, I am filled with pure joy: this abyss is the ashy guts of a sauna stove. I’m opening the shift at the Hackney Wick Sauna Baths. I’ve got two hours to […]
Mash-Up to Mainstream
Nightlife tends to eat itself, uplifting crumbling areas before getting ousted as the neighbourhood becomes desireable. Can the Wick be different?
Guest Editor: Nathaneal Williams
In recent times it’s been easy to imagine the end of the world, but it’s remained almost impossible to imagine the end of music. And it turns out the way that most people like to eat, drink, dance or even sit to music, is together – at night. Food, drink, music, film, dance, fashion, art, […]
MEUS turn White Post Lane Orange
In early 2021, just as the world was opening up again, a good friend of mine Kevin – who owns A Balanced Life here on White Post Lane – told me they were building a third layer to his plot, and I liked the look of it. I knew that I wanted to be in […]
Think in Ink
I have a few tattoos. They were scrawled onto me in different parts of the world, usually while drunk and without much emotional meaning – or tactical skill. Certainly nothing compared to the art that followers of the new tattoo renaissance display on their bodies. So I’m keen to meet the tattooists of Hackney Wick […]
A Feast for the Senses
Marshmallow Laser Feast – a.k.a visual artists Barney Steel, Robin McNicholas & Ersinhan Ersin – immerse audiences in their wild creative world. We spoke to Barney to find out more
The Wicked One: Gordon Fryer
How long have you lived here? I was born in Woodford Green and went to school there. Then I joined the Navy for 10 years, came back and got married, and my first wife was from Hackney so we ended up here. We’ve moved around a couple of times, not away from the area, but […]
