events

This month in our gallery: an exhibition about mental illness, masking, talking animals and feeling left behind

Welcome to the last five years of my life. This exhibition brings together work made while recovering from BPD, trying to make sense of paranoia, anxiety, strange thinking, burnout and the feeling of constantly being behind. Through videos, performances, paintings and an ongoing web series, I document the messy reality of living through mental illness and recovery. The work doesn't try to neatly resolve anything - it just pieces together fragments of different versions of myself, finding humour, absurdity and healing within the chaos.

At the centre of the exhibition is a tension between performance and reality. From the absurd sitcom world of my web-series Cats of Tottenham and years of footage filmed inside my flat and around Tottenham, to paintings where I literally insert myself into classical scenes, the work explores masking, identity and the stories we create to survive. The exhibition culminates in Haringey Hamster, my own failed version of Jiminy Cricket: a reluctant moral guide, emotional support animal and artist who, much like me, doesn't really know what she's doing but keeps going anyway.

Come and see Haringey Hamster live on the following dates:

Sat 4th July 1pm to 4pm

Sun 5th July 2pm to 5pm

Sat 11th July 1pm to 4pm

Sun 19th July 12noon to 4pm

Sat 25th July 1pm to 5pm

Sun 26th July 12noon to 4pm

Join us for the return of THE ALL GOOD WHISTLE TEST, a quarterly showcase of the finest musical talent around from the borough and elsewhere, hosted by the mighty Ben Sohawon.

When you feel strongly it is said you wear it on your sleeve; when you are unsure it is said you should follow it. But what happens when you misplace your heart, break it, bury it, remove it and hide it away from the world?

Featuring a troll, many princesses, an equal amount of princes, magical wolves, fearless warriors and hungry skeletons, this show weaves together stories from across the world that all have one thing in common - a lack of heart, but at the same time maybe too much of one.

Francesca Mackenzie is a storyteller and archivist who spreads awareness on behalf of all sorts of monsters, from malignant dirty water to misrepresented vegetables. Regularly appearing at Tales at the Tavern, Elephant Tales and various other open mic nights across London, she loves telling tales that border on the extraordinary.

I Dream In Black, a community group reducing the barriers Black people face to access the arts, is launching their Black Book Club!
July we’ll be reading Keisha the Sket by Jade LB. From Piczo to penguin books, this story details the coming of age experience of a young Black teen growing up in London (order here)

Every month we’ll read from a Black author and want to hear from YOU what we should read next! Wanna stay in the loop? Sign up to the Book Club and our newsletter here : https://forms.gle/28iPeKbwTStE1GEbA

This is a safer space created for Black and Black Mixed readers to discuss stories with consideration to our racialised experience.

Come along to an evening of anti war songs drama and spoken word hosted by Enfield People's Theatre. Open Mic performers welcome. Great vibes.

Free entrance. Bar.  Collection for Ridley Rd Market campaign.

 The ever-popular Club Verbal Discharge returns. Probably the best spoken word night in North London. - come along to hear super spoken word readings. If you're writing prose, poetry, monologues, plays and want an audience of fellow creatives this is the event for you! 

In the afternoon of the first Sunday of each month from now on we will be holding a relaxed movie screening. Each film will be shown with subtitles, at a lower audio volume than we do at our regular movie night. Attendees can feel free to talk and move around as they wish while the film is showing. And the shop and bar will remain open throughout.

Under the terms of our license we're not permitted to reveal in advance the name of any film we screen - but watch this space for some clues as each date approaches. ;D

Two speakers, two subjects, twenty minutes each. The subject matter is a mystery - the audience finds out when the talk begins! One of our newest events and already a firm favourite.