Preview Night

To give audiences a head start an amazing 34 exhibitions opened early for preview night and parties broke out all over Walthamstow. Here is an account of the evening from our guest blogger, Emma Hammond, goodeggsocial.com

The fear of missing out was real! The E17 Art Trail Preview night was absolutely packed with interesting events, street parties and private views.

After some deliberation, first stop was Adam Graff’s photographic images of Walthamstow at Incoming Coffee. Taken from his Instagram account, the images celebrate the unseen parts of the borough. Like tiny windows in their smaller format, the pictures show little glimpses of everyday life and are raw and poetic.

Next up was a trip to Central Parade to see Object Book’s launch of their ‘festival within a festival’. I would recommend picking up a guide as there is a whole raft of exciting things happening, from a ‘library rave’ to a workshop on how to make an edible fairy tale book. I had a go on the ‘audio book silent disco’ which was great.

Off to Ruby Road where a street party was celebrating Share UK’s excellent photos of women activists. A bowl of pesto fell on my new white trainers but luckily they were unscathed. Kids were doing ‘political colouring in’, the wine was flowing and the portraits are exceptional. From women’s rights activist Helen Pankhurst to Greenham Common protester Ellen Jones, there is much there to learn and see.

Popped in to No 70 Hoe Street and saw Harriet Knuckles’ crochet creations, one of which is a seagull smoking a fag which really made my night. Go and have a look as the pieces are super fun!

‘Gentrification is Nigh’ at the E17 Art House was packed with people, it was hard to get in! More Adam Graff here doing Edvard Munch’s Scream as a head in the hole board as well as comments on the changing face of Walthamstow, by Tim Reedy and Danny Flynn.

Spent some time with Amanda Doidge in her little studio, learning about how she made her experimental ceramics. Using Lithium Carbonate in different amounts causing various distortion to teacups, she has created a series that is both delicate and bizarre. Amanda is also putting on a series of talks about chemical processes that are worth looking into.

Francis West’s engravings in the Walthamstow Village Window Gallery are absolutely exquisite. I am sure you will walk by them on your way to work! I really enjoyed looking at these, the mythical creatures, performing animals and fishermen are so vibrant and alive they are a real joy.

I was so happy to see Chloe Beale’s photographs of Dungeness in Kent as they reminded me of the time I spent there on holiday. Dungeness is a remarkable place and Chloe has really captured the magic and eeriness with her striking images.

The last stop (after dinner at the Deli- the Village was buzzing and it was a beautiful evening) was to see Lucy Henzell-Thomas‏’s ‘Icons of Women in Science’. I highly recommend you going along to see these if you can, I learnt so much. Many of them are fairly obscure, from Maryam Mirzakhani to Chien-Shiung Wu, so I will be doing some Googling today! Also represented here is Laika, the first dog in space and we took some time to imagine her reaction as she hurtled through space. Also being shown was ‘Wondering on the Moon’ a collection of illustrations exploring folklore and facts about the moon. I think kids will love venue 135!

This is just a very small snapshot of preview night. It has definitely made me extremely excited about the next few weeks and I can’t wait to catch up with the many other venues. If you haven’t already, get hold of a guide and start some planning- you won’t regret it.