Leon Scott-Engel is one of dozens of artists campaigning to stay in the building.
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“There’s a community in this building, and that community took over 20 years to develop.”
Eran Zucker, CEO of affordable studio providers “V22”, reflects on the history of their original, flagship studio in Dalston.
The white brick building on Ashwin street is currently clad with scaffolding. Eran tells City London News this was put in place to mitigate some of the safety issues worrying the council.
“The council basically said that there are health and safety concerns and on that basis they asked the building to be vacated, although we maintain that we have all the required certification around health and safety to show that the building is safe.”
The site has been in V22’s hands since 2005. There are 31 studios and 39 artists. Some of the artists have been renting for a few months, others for nearly two decades.
‘I moved here for a feeling of a bit more security’
25-year-old Leon Scott-Engel has been renting his studio for just over a year. The adjacent room is empty. Leon tells us an artist was about to sign a lease for the space when the eviction notice was issued.
Leon Scott-Engel has been in his Dalston studio for just over a year.
“There’s a feeling of hopelessness about it. Myself and a couple of the other tenants here had faced something similar, a studio in the city that we were part of got closed with two months’ notice after we’d been in there for just over a year. I moved here for a feeling of a bit more security.”
Leon is preparing work for a Hackney-based exhibition, but a lot of his energy is also going into campaigning against the eviction, alongside his fellow tenants.
“I’ve only been here for a year, but even then I think with this we’ve all banded together stronger.
“It’s not just a case of fighting for a studio, it’s fighting to stay within the community that you call home.”
‘It’s an upheaval and a violation’
Across the hall in a smaller but airier studio, theatre director and radical feminist, Professor Anna Birch, proudly displays her paper briquettes which she’s upcycled for a digital exhibition in Puglia, Italy.
Anna Birch says the eviction is a ‘violation’.
She shares her studio with single mother Jana, who’s a painter. Anna says it was the time frame for eviction, in particular, that came as a real blow for them both, with only a few weeks to pack up and relocate.
“Jana was shocked. She’s a full-time employed mother and she has no time to take stuff and clear it out.
“If your livelihood is dependent on your studio space it’s an upheaval and a violation because you don’t want to be thrown about as if you’re not valuable, and this is something that we really think the council would want to address.
“The bottom line is personal expression. People need to be able to make art, make music, make clothes, do what they need as a human being to express themselves fully, and that’s part of our symbolic presence here.”
The eviction raises larger questions about the regeneration, and gentrification, of Dalston. The building backs on to much loved community space ‘Curve Garden’. There are fears that the council’s plans to redevelop the building will inevitably extend into the garden.
Hackney Council has told City London News:
“The building must be vacated as its condition presents significant health and safety risks for occupants.
“We have been working with V22 to manage these risks for a short period to provide artists with some notice.
“We have offered to temporarily rehouse some of V22’s tenants in a nearby building in Dalston Lane, subject to contract.”
‘I’m desperately trying to maintain rent’
The issue of affordable and accessible studio space for artists is London-wide. On the other side of the capital, in south-west London, one of the largest single-site studio complexes in Europe drives competitive renting prices.
Willoughby Brow is one of over 300 artists at Wimbledon Art Studios.
Willoughby Brow, a multi-media artist and theatre designer, has been leasing space in Wimbledon Art Studios for several years.
“I grew up in a two-bedroom flat and I was always making artwork, but there was no room in the house at all. My parents realised I needed a space to work. We couldn’t afford it but we met some people that were very kind to us who we shared the rent with for the first year or so.
“It was like a broom closet when I first got it, but I moved here a few years ago after selling some work and now I’m in here and desperately trying to maintain the rent, but it’s a really amazing space.”
Willoughby points out some of the things he’s been working on. A sketched portrait on an easel for a new commission, an exact scaled-down replica model of a local church, a storyboard for a new film idea.
“We had a time where the building owner changed hands and that was a very, very scary time. We didn’t know if we were literally all going to be evicted. Fortunately the buyer decided to keep us on as tenants.
“Artists are used to a lack of security in the freelance world, but it would be nice to have a break from that in terms of tenancy.”
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Headline‘There’s a feeling of hopelessness’: The Dalston artists facing eviction
Short Headline39 Dalston artists facing eviction
StandfirstHackney Council has given the artists until the end of the month to vacate their studios following safety concerns
“There’s a community in this building, and that community took over 20 years to develop.”
Eran Zucker, CEO of affordable studio providers “V22”, reflects on the history of their original, flagship studio in Dalston.
The white brick building on Ashwin street is currently clad with scaffolding. Eran tells City London News this was put in place to mitigate some of the safety issues worrying the council.
“The council basically said that there are health and safety concerns and on that basis they asked the building to be vacated, although we maintain that we have all the required certification around health and safety to show that the building is safe.”
The site has been in V22’s hands since 2005. There are 31 studios and 39 artists. Some of the artists have been renting for a few months, others for nearly two decades.
‘I moved here for a feeling of a bit more security’
25-year-old Leon Scott-Engel has been renting his studio for just over a year. The adjacent room is empty. Leon tells us an artist was about to sign a lease for the space when the eviction notice was issued.
Leon Scott-Engel has been in his Dalston studio for just over a year.
“There’s a feeling of hopelessness about it. Myself and a couple of the other tenants here had faced something similar, a studio in the city that we were part of got closed with two months’ notice after we’d been in there for just over a year. I moved here for a feeling of a bit more security.”
Leon is preparing work for a Hackney-based exhibition, but a lot of his energy is also going into campaigning against the eviction, alongside his fellow tenants.
“I’ve only been here for a year, but even then I think with this we’ve all banded together stronger.
“It’s not just a case of fighting for a studio, it’s fighting to stay within the community that you call home.”
‘It’s an upheaval and a violation’
Across the hall in a smaller but airier studio, theatre director and radical feminist, Professor Anna Birch, proudly displays her paper briquettes which she’s upcycled for a digital exhibition in Puglia, Italy.
Anna Birch says the eviction is a ‘violation’.
She shares her studio with single mother Jana, who’s a painter. Anna says it was the time frame for eviction, in particular, that came as a real blow for them both, with only a few weeks to pack up and relocate.
“Jana was shocked. She’s a full-time employed mother and she has no time to take stuff and clear it out.
“If your livelihood is dependent on your studio space it’s an upheaval and a violation because you don’t want to be thrown about as if you’re not valuable, and this is something that we really think the council would want to address.
“The bottom line is personal expression. People need to be able to make art, make music, make clothes, do what they need as a human being to express themselves fully, and that’s part of our symbolic presence here.”
The eviction raises larger questions about the regeneration, and gentrification, of Dalston. The building backs on to much loved community space ‘Curve Garden’. There are fears that the council’s plans to redevelop the building will inevitably extend into the garden.
Hackney Council has told City London News:
“The building must be vacated as its condition presents significant health and safety risks for occupants.
“We have been working with V22 to manage these risks for a short period to provide artists with some notice.
“We have offered to temporarily rehouse some of V22’s tenants in a nearby building in Dalston Lane, subject to contract.”
‘I’m desperately trying to maintain rent’
The issue of affordable and accessible studio space for artists is London-wide. On the other side of the capital, in south-west London, one of the largest single-site studio complexes in Europe drives competitive renting prices.
Willoughby Brow is one of over 300 artists at Wimbledon Art Studios.
Willoughby Brow, a multi-media artist and theatre designer, has been leasing space in Wimbledon Art Studios for several years.
“I grew up in a two-bedroom flat and I was always making artwork, but there was no room in the house at all. My parents realised I needed a space to work. We couldn’t afford it but we met some people that were very kind to us who we shared the rent with for the first year or so.
“It was like a broom closet when I first got it, but I moved here a few years ago after selling some work and now I’m in here and desperately trying to maintain the rent, but it’s a really amazing space.”
Willoughby points out some of the things he’s been working on. A sketched portrait on an easel for a new commission, an exact scaled-down replica model of a local church, a storyboard for a new film idea.
“We had a time where the building owner changed hands and that was a very, very scary time. We didn’t know if we were literally all going to be evicted. Fortunately the buyer decided to keep us on as tenants.
“Artists are used to a lack of security in the freelance world, but it would be nice to have a break from that in terms of tenancy.”
