'My school didn't even have a proper art department': The young Londoners who are becoming star artists

Future Hackney is documenting change in the borough and giving its youngsters a leg-up

A youth organisation is giving young Londoners the opportunity to learn trades in the arts that may not have been accessible to them before and is helping document changes in their area.

Future Hackney is a youth organisation and community project documenting change in Hackney.

It focuses on the African and Caribbean communities in the borough using photography and street exhibitions to tell the story of London's urban history which has significantly changed in the last few decades.

Donna Travis created the project to help the 'long-term unemployment and young people in the area' by providing skill-based workshops and creative engagement for those in the community.

In the last year, the focus has changed as the the effects of the pandemic struck the area and the Black Lives Matter social movement began to take hold.

Tapiwa Cronin first became involved in Future Hackney at the age of 15 working on a photo class in Ridley Road and felt that she could never have accessed a camera without it.

"There are just so many wealth barriers," said Tapiwa. "My school never taught photography. They didn't even have a proper art department. It was very underfunded. Photography just didn't seem accessible at all, it's so expensive, just knowing there are barriers there makes it difficult.

"I've always had an interest in photography and thought Hackney was a very picturesque place. There's a mural across the road from the Dalston library that always inspired me.

Tapiwa was heavily involved in the project's exhibition Ridley Road Stories which garnered a positive reception.

"There's new life to the road," said Tapiwa. "Especially after George Floyd was killed. we wanted to celebrate black lives and lack culture.

"But here's also this feeling in Dalston that time is ticking. The Ridley Road we know might not be around much longer. It's a carpe diem kind of moment. We need to capture it and live in it somehow.

"The photography is a souvenir of a time you can't really return to."

Now, at the age of 17, Tapiwa has a couple of years of photography under her belt and has been assisting Future Hackney with other projects leaving her in a position Donna says will make her employable to anyone in the industry.

"I'd still be searching for something to do right now if it wasn't for Future Hackney," said Tapiwa. "I wouldn't have found opportunities. It's a cyclical problem as the opportunities are few and far between and you need experience to get one but there's nowhere to get experience.

"Future Hackney was just so accommodating which I think is so rare."

If you head to Ridley Road you can still see the outside exhibition.