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Celebrating the Life of Ridley Road

20th January 2021

National Lottery funded project Future Hackney has unveiled its Ridley Road Stories exhibition to rave reviews.

Last November, Future Hackney unveiled the first phase of their Ridley Road Stories with a local public photography exhibition documenting and celebrating the life of Ridley Road in Hackney, London. The striking images have been installed on the wall of the Hackney Red Cross building, celebrating the people and history of the area. The collaborative project was funded by The National Lottery and Arts Council England.

Ridley Road Stories is a documentary story of a Hackney Street with a rich history of Caribbean and African Culture. Future Hackney has been capturing this dynamic space over the last three years as a living archive. We increasingly recognise public art as the new ‘gallery' so this just seemed the perfect way to introduce the project especially with the resonance locally of the iconic Red Cross building and with the BLM movement.

Donna Travis, Future Hackney

The exhibition has been widely acclaimed, with features in national and local press, including The Guardian, Time Out, Hackney Citizen, and The Hackney Gazette.

Future Hackney is a long-term project, supported by National Lottery funding, that documents social change in East London. Local visual storytellers work alongside youth and residents to create a living archive of the inner-city in this rapidly changing canvas. Through representing these communities and establishing their cultural and historical spaces, the projects aims to highlight the relevance of London’s multicultural legacy.


The exhibition has been a huge success, with features in National and Local press, including The Guardian, Time Out, Hackney Citizen, and The Hackney Gazette.