Culture

Culture and counterculture go hand in hand. This collection of videos and texts focuses on the active forces which create and sustain a community through cultural events, celebration and new traditions outside of institutional and commercial models.

From the E1 Festival in 1970s which was borne from a fight for community football and free community space, to the Tower Hamlets Arts Project (THAP) which exhibited community arts projects at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1976 for a month to the Community Poplar Festival, these celebrations are created out of a true radical collective spirit – advocating for the importance of communal public space during an era threatened by encroaching gentrification and the obsession with private property ownership. They document a new model of community art-making and the often strenuous process of organising. Featured titles include: E1 Festival 1st Community Meeting (1974), E1 Festival – Final edit (1973), Fly a Flag for Poplar (1974), Cultural Herb Festival (1973), Tower Hamlets Arts Band Big Show - Drama 4th Night 2nd Tape (1976).