Also see this article (thanks to Lenore).

“It all started when there was a serialisation of Hackney that Rose red empire on radio 4, and I was lookig out of my window at every single sight that was being described. I live on Fields Estate, and to hear someone talk about your corner shop which is as intimate as your front room is truly creepy.
The whole novel is that way for me, talking about incidental street detail that is so familiar and personal to me it feels like i’m suffering from papranoid schizophrenia when someone else mentions things I though only I had noticed about my neighbourhood.
So I got in touch and he came over, and I shot loads of pictures of him on my balcony. I wanted him to be a bit edgy and hard, to fit the climate in which we live; and of course he’s a mild and genial person, open, kind and unhurried. So I went for looks from the corner of the eye and from below ala Leni Riefenstahl which wasn’t really appropriate at all.
So I cut it and he came over and he didn’t like it much because it made him look too severe. My own fault for not being a bit more flexible. It is good though, a strong penetrating look and a background of the iron work in Lidl carpark; which is what his work is all about for me, finding mystery and beauty in otherwise banal surroundings.”

“The photographer Jens Marott was taking some photos of me whilst I was working on it, so I’ve included one of those as well.”

Event no. 17
Date: Thursday 6 May, 1pm
Venue: Kingston Museum
Tickets: £8 (£5 under-18s)
Order tickets online

The event is so unique, we are having difficulty naming it. It will be part conference, with a range of speakers and debates, and part a simple celebration. It is taking place on Saturday 5 June from 10am through to 4.30pm at Stoke Newington School. Throughout the day there will be a range of meetings, discussion, performances and workshops that you can attend.

Celebrate Hackney
The Celebrate Hackney event will be both a celebration and an opportunity to meet, discuss and exchange views in a relaxed atmosphere. We now have over 30 groups who have confirmed that they will be participating on the day. These include campaigning organisations, adult education providers, faith groups, community organisations, trade union groups, advice groups, and a range of political parties. There will also be a range of activities for children during the day, and we are in discussion with local caterers to provide a range of food that reflects the borough’s cultural diversity.

Groups already confirmed  include:

Black Parenting Organisation—CND—Day-Mer organisation—Defend Council Housing—employment lawyers—Green Party—Hackney City Farm—Hackney Environmental Network—Hackney Law Centre—Hackney Migrant and Refugee Support Group—Hope not Hate—Keep the NHS public campaign—Labour Party—Liberal Democrats—London Hazards Campaign—Migrant Rights Network—Morning Star—National Coalition for Independent Action—Open University—Quakers—RMT cleaners campaign—Sam Hallam campaign—Sanctuary Pledge Campaign—Save the Hackney Empire—SE Region TUC—Teenlab Productions—Union Learn—Unison—University of the third Age—Workers Education Association—Working Lives Research Institute—Plus many more to be confirmed

The conference will last from 10.30am to 4.30pm and there will be a range of meetings, performance or workshops to choose from during the day. Amongst our highlights will be Roland Muldoon from the Hackney Empire campaign and Clara Osagiede who has been instrumental in the campaign to organise outsourced cleaners on the London Underground.

More details from http://www.hackneyunites.org.uk/”

The web team