Join us for a week of talks, walks and viewings at the Wick Curiosity Shop in Hackney Wick, organised by public works. The WICK CURIOSITY SHOP focuses on current activities and programmes including self-initiated, commissioned, informal and formal projects. The programme splits into three groups of events:
The Way We Walk,The Way We Make and The Way We Talk

For a pdf timetable click here or scroll down for more details.

10 Felstead Street, Hackney Wick, London E9 5LT
Tuesday March 1 - Sunday March 6
Opening times from 11am - 7pm*
(*open later for evening events)

Guests are welcome to join the Hackney Wick Curiosity Shop with their stories, ideas and proposals. More events are added daily as we are approaching the week so please check our website for updated programmes or just drop in when in the area. All events are free of charge - Places on the walks are limited, reserving a place is recommended. You can do so by emailing info@wickcuriosityshop.net or message us on Twitter @wickcuriosity or find us on facebook.

THE WAY WE WALK
A series of Walks from the wick
By public works in collaboration with ……
The walks Programme is part of the 'Wick Curiosity Shop - Route Book' project by public works. It is one of 6 temporary art projects commissioned by London Thames Gateway Development Corporation for London Borough of Hackney (LBH) and London Borough of Tower Hamlets (LBTH). The 6 temporary commissions are curated by muf architecture/art.

Walking the Press
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
A walk from Abbey Gardens to the Wick Curiosity Shop in Oslo House, where we will be moving the mobile press which produces seed bombs. The seed bombs will be used for the Sunflower Avenue walk (see below). Get an introduction to the beautiful Abbey Gardens and enjoy a slow walk into the Wick via the Greenway pushing, pulling and talking all things gardening and the Wick.
The walk will be lead by Andreas Lang and take approximately 1.5 hours and leave from Abbey Gardens. Bakers Row E15 3NF. Check www.abbeygardens.org for directions.

Printers Paradise
Thursday, March 3, 2011, 3pm
'Printers Paradise' was the informal name of the dense cluster of printers and related industry spread around the Wick and along the Carpenters Road. With the changes sweeping through the area and through the print industry only a few outposts of Printers Paradise remain. Join us on a walk tracing the former glory, meet some of the printers and visit some of the print workshops still active in Hackney Wick.
The walk willbe lead by Andreas Lang and Gemma Drake take approximately 1 hour and will leave from The Wick Curiosity Shop, 10 Felstead Street, Oslo House, Hackney Wick, London E9 5LT.
The walk will contribute to an on-going project by Gemma documenting the changing print industry in and around Hackney Wick.

Friday Fish Walk
Friday, March 4, 2011, 3pm
It is Friday afternoon and what better way to spend it than joining the Curiosity Shop on a walk to show you where one could pick up the best fish in the Wick! Along the way we will fly post pictures and posters, which have been made on-site at Oslo House earlier in the week.
The walk will be lead by Polly Brannen and take approximately 40 minutes and will leave from the Wick Curiosity Shop, 10 Felstead Street, Oslo House, Hackney Wick, London E9 5LT

Sunflower Avenue Seed bombing walk
Saturday, March 5, 2011, 11am
Sunflower Avenue connects Mabley Green to Victoria Park cutting straight through the heart of Hackney Wick. It is a Local Initiative by Lea Bank Square Purple Garden to establish a planted connection between the two local parks. Seed Bombs specially designed and made in the Wick Curiosity Shop will be used to replant hundreds of sunflowers while strolling along the Avenue.
The walk will be lead by Andreas Lang and take app. 1 hour and will leave from the Wick Curiosity Shop, 10 Felstead Street, Oslo House, Hackney Wick, London E9 5LT ending at Mabley Green

The Way We Walked
Saturday, March 5, 2011, 2pm
Following the footsteps of one of the most popular yearly walks in the Wick - the Christmas swim - we will walk together to retrace the 'Otters Swimming Club' days, with giant posters and hot dogs on the way!
The walk will be lead by Polly Brannanand take app. 1 hour and will leave from the Wick Curiosity Shop, 10 Felstead Street, Oslo House, Hackney Wick, London E9 5LT

Off the Track
Brigand boys, Monkey Parades and Clarnico Girls
Sunday, March 6, 2011, 4pm
Monkey Parades were popular from at least the 1840's and were a British working class institution, which probably started life in the crowded urban centres. This courting congregation that saw men and women lavishly dressed to impress was rife in Hackney in 19th Century. The walk will retrace a visual journey of the Wick by George Sims, a journalist during the height of the popularity of Monkey Parades in the late 1800s. Participants are invited to dress to impress and the ladies are invited to wear lavish hats (designed by the ladies at the Wick) ending with a drink on Mabley Green.
The walk will lead by Torange Khonsari and take app. 1 hour and will leave from the Wick Curiosity Shop, 10 Felstead Street, Oslo House, Hackney Wick, London E9 5LT

THE WAY WE MAKE
A series of hands on workshops in Curiosity Shop

The Anecdotal Hair Style
Tuesday, March 2, 2011 from 2-5pm
Get your hair styled or your nails done, have a tea and chat about the Wick. Lauren Campany will offer free hair styling and manicures in return for some lively anecdotes about the Wick - imaginary or real, regardless weather you live in the Wick or are on your first visit.

Pimp your Hat
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 6pm
Join the 'ladies of the Wick' for a hat making session in the Wick Curiosity Shop in preparation for the Monkey Parade - a courting congregation along the Wick, which will see men and women lavishly dressed to impress. Just bring yourselves - material is provided.
The workshop will be lead by Torange Khonsari with the WI of Hackney Wick (TBC)

Fish Frying Posters
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, March 1,2,3, 2011 from 11am-2pm
Fish has been part of the Wick for a long time. Join us to make large scale posters which will be copied and pasted during the Friday Fish Walk. The woskhop will be lead by Polly Brannan

Seed Bomb Pressing
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 from 1pm-4pm
Join us and our magic 10 ton press to make unique Hackney Wick seed bombs to re-seed the Sunflower Avenue. The workshop will be lead by Andreas Lang

THE WAY WE TALK , REMEMBER AND IMAGINE

Wick Session Number 1
Collectively Wick
Thursday, March 3, 2011, 7pm till late
A Wick Development Trust and trust in development.
There is no Development Trust in Hackney Wick or the surrounding area. With so much speculative and top-down development descending on Hackney Wick we want to take a moment and brain storm alternatives for a collective community driven development of public spaces in Hackney Wick.
Speakers to be confirmed - Please check our website for updates, www.wickcuriosityshop.net

Wick Session Number 2
Grounds for culture
Friday, March 4, 2011, 7pm till late
Wick Session Number 2 will bring together artists and activists currently working on projects or setting up initiatives in Hackney Wick. A friendly and informal exchange between practitioners with a passion for Hackney Wick.
Speakers to be confirmed - Please check our website for updates, www.wickcuriosityshop.net

Wick on Film
Saturday, March 5, 2011, 5pm till late
Pop down to the Curiosity Shop on Saturday afternoon for a film session showing a varied selection of films from and about the Wick. While the final programme is yet to be confirmed it is likely to include archive footage, explorations of what is now the Olympic site and stories from the area.
Curated and hosted by Rakan Budeiri and Andreas Lang
Click HERE for full programme

Tea Cake and Curiosities
Sunday, March 6, 2011, 1-4pm
Join us for some free Tea and Cake on early Sunday afternoon in the Wick Curiosity Shop and bring you photos, anecdotes and rare curiosities to be included in the Curiosity Shop archive. The antiques road show meets friendly chatter and deep anecdotes about life in the Wick.

The Wick Curiosity postal service to Graz, Austria.
public works is invited by Rotor Gallery to present the Wick Curiosity Shop in Graz, Austria. The week after the stay in Hackney Wick, The Shop will be journeying across the continent where it will be participating in an exhibition entitled CREATIVE COMMUNICATION AND ARTISTIC INTERVENTION INTO PUBLIC SPACE organised by Rotor Gallery. The gallery is situated in a similar social context to the shop's home in the Wick and thus this visit aims to create a form of cultural exchange between the two areas and the explorations which have gone on within them. As part of this exchange the Curiosity Shop is interested in receiving contributions from visitors who would like to pass something (physical or not) between the two areas. If this sounds like you pop into the shop during the week or email us via our website.

Part of the show in Graz is a two day conference on URBAN NEIGHBOURHOOD CULTURES with an impressive list of speakers from across Europe - Hackney Wick will be in good company.

This Wick Curiosity Shop was originally commissioned by
[SPACE] as part of the Hackney Wick Festival in 2008

From documentary to fiction and the bits in between - an afternoon of films featuring Hackney Wick as the main protagonist. Stories of pleasure, discovery, loss and celebration providing a cross-section of the transformation taking place in Hackney Wick.

1. Edgeland (15:25mins) 2009
Edgeland is a film by artist Sally Mumby-Croft, co-directed by Xavier Zapata. Shot entirely around Hackney Wick it uses voice overs from local people to creating a great introduction to the Wick area and the many changes it is facing from the ever encroaching 2012 Olympic Developments.

2. The Games (17mins) 2008
A film by Hilary Powell made in 2007 before the arrival of the ubiquitous blue fence. A surreal alternative sporting event inspired by the DIY nature of the 1948 London Olympics, 'The Games' sets its athletes loss on a crumbling Hackney Wick which was about to be lost forever.

3. Outfall (6:16mins) 2009
"A road movie for a road that was never built". A film by David Knight following the Northern Outfall Sewer which heads east from Hackney Wick. Better recognised as the Greenway, this path was long known as an escape East away from the city and its rules being overtaken by nature, mopeds and graffiti.

4. Olympic Stories: Hackney Wick (7:44mins) 2009
A film by Dave Hill, Francesca Panetta and David Levene which looks at people and places which make up the stories behind the areas where the Olympics will be taking place.

5. This Was Forever (10mins) 2008
A prize winning film from Mark Aitken and young film makers from polkadotsonraindrops which follows the story of the Manor Garden Allotments which struggled to hold their own before being demolished in 2007 to make way for Olympic projects.

6. Trowbridge Blow Down (4:01mins) 1985
Two clips from BBC News covering demolitions on the Trowbridge Estate in Hackney Wick, the initial blast was unsatisfactory and became known as "the leaning tower of Hackney".

7. Computer Pub (2:30mins) 1965
'The Pub of The Future' a clip from Tomorrow's World featuring trials of automated drink ordering system at a pub in Hackney Wick. The pub in question was the Victoria (Hotel) on Eastway.

8. Coracle Regatta (3:17mins) 2006
Harry Meadows' film of his first Coracle Regatta project which took place on the Cut outside the Eton Manor's Johnstone Boathouse. The site of the traditional 'Christmas' swim, the artificial waterway continues to host this informal boat race which, coincides with the annual Hackney Wicked Festival, until 2012.

9. What Have You Done Today, Mervyn Day? (45mins) 2005
The story of the Lea Valley River area as it prepares to be forever changed by the 2012 Olympics directed by Paul Kelly in collaboration with St. Etienne. A celebration of an area which saw the invention of plastic, petrol and the formation of the Labour movement, the film depicts a young boy cycling around the area on the day the Olympic decision was announced.
Filmed and directed by Paul Kelly, produced by Andrew Hinton, music by Saint Etienne, written by Kevin Pearce and edited by Mikey Tomkins.

The Anecdotal Hair Style and Manicure
Tuesday, March 2, 2011 from 2-5pm

Get your hair styled or your nails done, have a tea and chat about the Wick. Lauren Campany will offer free hair styling and manicures in return for some lively chat about the Wick - imaginary or real, regardless weather you live in the Wick or are on your first visit. - Bookings now taken here

This just in from Mabley Green Meadow:

With spring undeniably in the air, the Mabley Meadow is already starting to burst into life. Which means now's the perfect time to start preparing for an incredible, flower-filled summer. So if you'd like to roll up your sleeves and get involved this spring, here are a couple of dates for your diary:

Stag Beetle Habitat Building - Saturday 19 February
Thanks to the kind folks at Skanska, we now have a pile of freshly-cut logs on the meadow just waiting to be turned into a habitat for Stag Beetles. So come along on Saturday anytime between 11am-2.30pm and help us give these rare beetles a new home. Making the habitats will mean a fair bit of digging, so it's good to wear sturdy shoes - but all tools will be provided. More info here.

Meadow Seed-Sowing Day - Saturday 19 March
Just like last year, we'll be getting the meadow off to a good start again this spring by sowing more seeds, planting some woodland species and putting up the coppiced-wood fences to protect our young seedlings. But unlike last year, the meadow is already starting to take care of itself so we can spend less time digging and more time chatting. So save the date! More details will be on the blog soon.

www.mableymeadow.blogspot.com

Join us for a week of talks, walks and viewings at the Wick Curiosity Shop in Hackney Wick, organised by public works.

Tuesday March 1 - Sunday March 6
Opening times from 11am - 7pm*
(*open later for evening events)

10 Felstead Street, Hackney Wick, London E9 5LT

We will publish details of the programme on this website very soon.
You can also follow us on Twitter @wickcuriosity or find us on facebook