Hackney Wicked Teams Up With The V&A For Friday Lates

Hackney WickED brings a taste of the festival to the V&A. The Hackney WickED Art Festival, in its 7th year, has established itself as one of London’s biggest and certainly most uniquely creative Art events: promoting local culture and providing a platform for local emerging artists to showcase their work alongside more established names. The first festival in 2008 was a joint initiative from a mix of galleries & studios. In 2009 the festival expanded as local artist Gavin Turk became Patron and visitor numbers reached 10,000. Dubbed “the most vital event of the Summer” by NY Arts Mag, word spread and the festival expanded in 2011 (25,000 people) to include: 17 Galleries: 20 open studio buildings, 600+ artists, popup events, 2 live music stages & more. 2013 saw the return of the festival after the 2012 London Games and the streets came alive again with impromptu performance, exhibitions, open studios, live music, art markets, film, talks, development workshops, live installations and more…

Artists at the V&A’s Friday Late: Hackney WickED which takes place on the 28th February will include: The Beatbox Collective & BlackForestGhetto, Vittoria Belli, Natasha Bird, Jack Brown, Stephen Cornford, RossenDaskalov, Kirsty Dixon, Fantich& Young, Warren Garland, Fareena Hussain, Lara Jacoski, Laura May Lewis, Anna Maloney, Ashton Mullins, //NAVIGATE, Jacob Fairless Nicholson, NOVA, Shapes DJs, Vinyl Pimp, Simon Reuben White, Ben Woodeson and Gavin Turk.

Ruth Lie, Friday Late Coordinator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, says, “The V&A is really excited to be working with the diverse and energetic community of Hackney Wick. Hackney WickED Art Festival is obviously a key event that showcases the work of established and emerging artists and we’re delighted that they will have a major presence during the evening. Equally, Friday Late aims to support emerging artists and designers, and our four-part London series looks at continuing to provide a platform for them and celebrating the creativity of this unique neighbourhood.”

Anna Maloney, one of the festival directors said, “We love the concept of the Friday Late takeovers at the V&A – it’s a great way of bringing London’s artist communities together to showcase their work in one of London’s top cultural venues, bringing today’s art scene into a place of great heritage.  It’s been a great buzz working together in the lead up to the event and I’ve no doubt the Hackney Wick Takeover will be a feast for the senses and a lot of fun.”

“Priced out of Shoreditch, London’s art innovators packed up their paints and formed a new creative colony. Time Out finds a cultural explosion in E9… One regular event is the Wag’s (Wick Art Galleries) dinners, hosted and attended by galleries including Elevator, the event-based Decima – run by David C West and Alex Chappel, andThe Residence, run by Toronto-born artist Ingrid-Z. The Residence’s next project, ‘Hackney Wicked,’ will be a celebration of the area’s history. In August, as part of ‘Hackney Wicked’, the Wags and local artists will also be staging an art fair, open studios and an art Olympics – planned events include artists vs estate agents table football.” TimeOut, 2008.

“Hackney Wicked Art Festival is back with a BOOM! This major event will showcase the new blood of contemporary art in a rising generation of galleries and open studios.” Art Rabbit, 2009
“Hackney Wicked is an art festival dedicated to showcasing local art and celebrating the rise of a new generation artists. Everything from existing galleries, studios, pop-up art boutiques to barbeques, sound system parties, the burning of a wicker man and live gigs will come together for a weekend of fun and Cultural Learnings of Hackney Wicked for Make Benefit Glorious Visitors.” Dazed, 2009

“An event highlighting the strength and diversity of Britain’s creative industries… the event showcased the eccentric and freewheeling spirit that helped Britain’s claim to be a leading cultural light. Make sure you don’t miss this unique event in 2011.” Reuters/the Washington Post, 2010
Not many festivals can really guarantee something you’ve never seen before, but Hackney WickED can a hundred times over. Take a peek, and worry about “how-the-hell-do-we-get-home-from-here” later. The Londonist, 2010

“It’s like a post-apocalyptic world where only the artists survived!” Run Riot 2010
“This popular three day extravaganza drew thousands of art and music lovers to Hackney Wick and Fish Island last month. The Citizen explores the galleries… Spilling out of studios, flooding onto the canal and lining the streets, the fourth annual Hackey WickED Festival prized the lid off the artistic community and invited in the curious at the end of last month”  Hackney Citizen, 2011

“From miniature aqua garden gnomes to drum kits on wheels, from paintings of cats to late-night conversations about Caravaggio and the universe, Hackney WickED proved once again that it is an exhilarating, thought-provoking and occasionally bonkers art festival.” Hackney Citizen, 2013

“From art roulette to spicy Colombian bites and a floating cinema, E9 is the place to be this weekend for your cutting-edge fix.” Evening Standard, 2013

“We’re straight-up excited about Hackney WickED art festival. Now into its 6th year, the three day hubbub of exhibitions, screenings, open studios, fete, music, workshops, talks, and lots of other good-sounding words kicks off on Friday. Catch the more daytime-friendly exhibitions and shows spread across the East, and keep an eye open for some unusual night events. Despite a stern warning against the appearance of large music stages and unsolicited late-night fun, come night time, we’ll be hunting down Sculpture for some “post-techno dancefloor mutations, cybernetic electronics, pop, comic strips, mechanical and digital animation, tape loops and computer sequences, heart and head, past and future” all spat out by a mixture of machines from the last 30 years. Perfect.” Le Cool, 2013

Hackney WickED CIC Board of Directors: Jack Brown; Kirsty Dixon; Laura May Lewis; Anna Maloney; Fabio Scarpa; Simon Reuben White

The V&A’s Friday Late: Hackney Wick Takeover takes place on 28 Feb 2014, 6.30-9.30pm – a free event open to all

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