Our year as London Borough of Culture aimed to deliberately blur the line between residents, professional artists, local businesses and community members.
It was a space where art, ideas and action come together. Our opening event, Welcome to the Forest, was no exception. Here are the local artists, musicians and creators who were involved...
Town Hall
Greenaway and Greenaway & Talvin Singh OBE
Hailing from the borough, brothers Jude and Jolyon are Greenaway & Greenaway, who work collaboratively through a hybrid of production, graphics and audio. For their Welcome to the Forest piece entitled Into the Forest, they have worked in collaboration with internationally acclaimed percussionist, composer and Leytonstone born Talvin Singh OBE who has produced Monox, a unique soundscape to reflect the dynamics in culture through music.
Into The Forest takes people on a journey through time, through the Borough and into the future. It is a high energy, audio-visual, hyperlocal, site-specific film that tells the story of Waltham Forest through the eyes of the diverse communities who call it home. The soundscape 'Monox’ was created and designed alongside the visuals, creating a sonic triptych that Talvin hopes celebrates the strength of the underground music of the borough as an all-inclusive and racially harmonic temple of sound. Into the Forest includes portraits of over 1,000 residents.
Many thanks to: Greenaway & Greenaway’s ITF team, Richard Murphy and Walthamstow School for Girls, Gasworks Studio, Acorn Films, David Piggott, National Library of Scotland, Tim Emblem-English, Jonny Greenwald & Shyam Knight, Vestry House Museum, Wood Street Walls, New Spitalfields Market – City of London Team, Whipps Cross University Hospital – Barts Health NHS Trust, Gods Own Junkyard, Blackhorse Workshop, Allied Bakeries, Cann Hall and Harrow Green Baptist Church, Leyton Muslim Community Centre, Leyton Royal Mail, Leyton Orient FC – Howard Gould, BAT Studios, Smiles & Sons Limited, Eral metal Works, Bates of London, Kelmscott School, Mbilia Arts, Lyrix Organix, Anna Wilson - Barbican, Film London, Film Service Waltham Forest, William Morris Gallery, Hackney Creative Social Centre, Iree Island, Leyton Sixth Form students, Spoken word artists: Micheal Sookhan, Beyonder, Dauda, Jack Houston, Roger Huddle, Tells, Sara el Harrak, Sophia Thakur, Katie Greenall, Mia Greenaway, Lemzi, Skandz, Dancers: Aida Diop, Tilly Geddes, Lisandro Miranda Pinto, Terique Simpson, Artists: Shucks and Ged Wells. Matharoo family, Leyton Sikh Temple, Dr Ryan, Deepti, Mr Harding (for all the amazing snare drum lessons at Ruckholt Manor Junior High School), Black Saloon Studios, Mandy Parnel, Leyton Library, Angela and Peter Panesar, Tina and Amit Mohindra, Bobby Bedi, Varsha Bedi, Guy Bharj and Chan Bharj. Evelyn Studios E11, Old Jet (Suffolk), Jesse Quin, Sukanya Purkayastha, Strongroom Studios, Kulvinder and Reena Lal, Dr Hari and everyone at Francis Road, Prince, Newport Lollipop Lady, Goodard Family, Ruckholt Steel Band, Sir George Monoux School, Whipps Cross Hospital and everyone on York Road.
Street artists involved in the pieces: Malarky, Hunto, Eelus, Lissa Chapman, Joe Fur, Dale Grimshaw, Cam Scale &, Loretta Lizzio, Vic Lee, Richard Woods Studio, Carl Cashman, Axel Void, David Shillinglaw, Frankie Strand, Maser, Cenz, Toasters, Ged Wells, Conor Harrington, Remi Rough, Georgia Hill, Louis Masai, ATMA, Stik, Bread Collective, ATM, Static - Tom Jackson & Craig Evans, Phlegm, Raul G, Irony & Boe, Shok-1, Carne Griffith, Lilly Lou, Jane Laurie, Elno, Mark McClure, ROA, Joefur, Seb Lester, Jeremy Deller, Wood Street Walls. Photography credits: Mark Rigney @ HookedBlog, Penny Dampier, Ric Toone @ Videobop
Addictive TV
Globe-trotting electronic duo Addictive TV have created an audio-visual installation projected on the Town Hall celebrating the diverse musical talent of Waltham Forest as part of their Orchestra of Samples project. The audio/video artists, known for their sampling extravaganzas, filmed a great number of local artists from a range of musical backgrounds, before digitally sampling them and creating music from the small clips. Expect instruments you’re unfamiliar with mixed with drums, flute, steel pan percussion, rap and more!
With thanks to all the local musicians and artists involved, including: Casey Pearl, Manni Fizzotti, Simon Ward, Eddie Brett, Jaidon Joshiah, Carole Rothoff, Jakob Rothoff, Deborah Rothoff, Layil Barr, Sol Downes, Fedzilla, Krix Panx, Lemzi, Kitch, David Mac, Mandu AK, Anna Skodbo, Jasdeep Bamrah, Inderpal Lolay, Tanvir Juttla, Ranvir Juttla, Khaled Harim, Dias Gomis, Sue Goode, Benjamin Racionzer, David Lance Callahan, Tulin Bayramoglu, Maui Lum Lopez, James Brady, Daniel Louis, Kat Richmond, Mark Kass, Victoria Sponge, Paul Gunter, Petr Kroutil, Lamine Sow, Mohamed Beldjoudi, and Julien Boinot.