WickED withdrawal? Head to DIY Open Studios for dose of inspiration

A visitor perusing the work of freelance sculptor Wilfrid Wood at Hackney WickED’s open studios. Photograph: Anna Maloney

Fearing a severe case of Hackney WickED withdrawal this Summer? Take comfort, because the much-loved arts festival has announced a return to its roots with an Open Studios event on the weekend of 27- 28 June.

The daytime event will be “more chilled than the [Hackney WickED] festival”, but conveniently coincides with London Festival of Architecture, a month-long celebration of architectural experimentation across London.

Hackney WickED Director Anna Maloney said: “We’re really excited about having the open studios event which the community are pulling together in the resourceful nature that people there have always worked – now coined DIY and sharing economy!”

As part of the architecture festival an exhibit called DEN-city1 is being built across the canal at salmon smokers H.Forman & Son’s party venue Forman’s Fish Island Riviera.

Billed as a “temporary utopian city of colour” the exhibit will comprise of a shanty town of installations, dens and assemblages created by over 50 Hackney Wick artists.

“Hackney Wick is a treasure trove,” explains DEN-city1’s curator artist Rebecca Feiner, “What we wanted to do was the opposite to architectural development plans and show how the artist community are continually remaking, reusing and repurposing whatever we find.

Feiner said that DEN-city1 was an “organic response” to some of the changes taking place in Hackney Wick and Fish Island and aimed to counterbalance some of the area’s more commercial enterprises such as Kopparberg’s Urban Forest Festival.

Natalie Ryde is an artist in Wallis Road Studios, one of the Hackney Wick’s industrial buildings set to be demolished for redevelopment. Speaking to the Hackney Citizen in May, Ryde said she was looking forward to opening her studio doors to the public “one last time”.

The ethos of the Open Studios event is “let’s enjoy it while we can”. As Anna Maloney said: “‘Change is the only certain thing’ as the canal bridge regularly reminds us, so we want people to come to the area, see the art, check out the boundless talent and enjoy what we have.”

Hackney WickED: DIY Open Studios is on 27th and 28th June from 12-6pm

Participating studios include:

Mother Studios
Space (Britannia Works, Bridget Riley, White Building, Eastway Studio)
See Studio
Stour Space
Arebyte
Lionworks
Wallis Rd/ Cell/ Liquid Studios
92 White Post Lane
Vittoria Wharf
Fish Island Labs / Swan Wharf