Displacement

About

One Little Girl and a Can of Gasoline invited Hidden Streets of London and Skeleton Cardboard to run a show. Curated by Skeleton Cardboard, a long term resident of Bethnal Green and one of London’s regular names in the Urban Art scene, he has invited artists known to Clare St to participate in this one off, unique group show.  The concept of the show aiming to tackle the issues of the ever changing cultural landscape at the heart of East London’s individual history. 

Over the past 18 months, artists have established Urban Art at the heart of Bethnal Green. Steeped in history, a part of East London that was destroyed in WWII long before the days of coffee shops and restaurants, Clare St became a hub for the companies that make our city tick and play an integral part of society along with other professional services and businesses.  Clare Street’s businesses consist of industrial units, car and bike garages, steel and woodworks. Having become friends with the owners through my daily passing, I found the businesses more supportive of Urban Art than a typical high street shop and more open minded to the concept of art.  In the last 18 months artists have painted Clare St with us from the USA, Columbia, France, New Zealand, Sweden, Argentina and of course mostly from the UK.

The business owners are rightly frustrated at being asked to leave the arches where soon national and international corporations will take over.  They will pay the higher rents, leaving the current businesses tasked with the difficulty of finding new locations and rebuilding their local client group.