Politics was happening at The Gate!

On the morning of the 21st June around 11am, we were visited by the current MP for Hammersmith and Fulham, Andy Slaughter. Later in the day, around 2pm, we were visited by the MP candidate for the Green Party, Naranee Nuthra-Rajan. Sadly none of the other parties responded to our invitations.

The Gate attendees wanted to discuss benefits, transport and safety in the community, so we prepared questions around these topics. We recorded the discussion for an episode of our Gate Kicks radio programme. After the candidates left we talked about what they said.

The Green candidate was good because she had an easy-to-read manifesto. On benefits, she said that people who are unwell shouldn't be forced to work. The Labour MP wasn't very clear on benefits or what they would do to improve them but he did say that the current system wasn't good.

Neither candidate had a good answer for how to improve the accessibility of transport for disabled people although the Green candidate did say she will help us to get in touch with the Greens on the London Assembly to talk about transport issues. Andy Slaughter also helpfully said he would put us in touch with other MPs for people who don't live in Hammersmith in Fulham.

Thanks to Andy Slaughter and Naranee Nuthra-Rajan for coming! It was a lively and energising day of conversation and we all agreed it felt like politics was happening at The Gate.

*** The Unknown - exhibition at 54 The Gate ***

On the 21st of April we hosted an exhibition called The Unknown. 

People from everywhere in the city converged on Richford Gate to see previously unknown art and music. One room was a city, hand-built from bamboo and scavenged materials. It had roads and buses which transported the visitors around between the bicycle-
time machine and the mod-roc geodesic dome, the other main landmark.

Down the collaged corridor, the walls of the music room were entirely covered by paper works. 

George Lynch (of Horse Hospital) wrote a text for the show. At Mary's suggestion, George extrapolated her own narrative response to the artwork. The resulting story is an optimistic survival guide to a changing city; it describes the making of a new map and where that could lead.

The text is archived on our Instagram however those interested may also like to check out @ge0rge.lynch on Instagram.

2Decks, Mr AKA Amazing and Labake performed original music to the gathered fans. 

We want to say big thanks to everyone that came, donated, saw the art, heard the music, clapped, had a cup of tea or ate a biscuit.

The Gate features in PZ World Vol.3: Properties!

The artist PZ visited The Gate in 2023 to run their DreamzHouse workshop, building dream houses with our artists. Bricks, wallpaper, interiors and extensions were designed and made. 

The works are now pictured in PZ's new property-focused book: PZ World Vol.3: Properties. The Gate's contribution proudly features in a high-value double page spread.

Gate artist MR AKA AMAZING features on Wire compilation

MR AKA AMAZING's track 'Greenford City' from his debut album Think Big was featured on The Wire's end of year compilation in 2023:

MR AKA AMAZING had an amazing year in 2023, playing five gigs and releasing a new album. He played gigs at Club Soda, Avalon Cafe, Cafe OTO (twice!) and Bubble Club.

The Gate music compilation 'PETROL GATE' released!

In December we released a compilation, PETROL GATE, of music made at The Gate between 2022 and 2023:

The compilation includes heavy metal anthems, punk scorchers, rock 'n' rollers, ballads, lullabies, hardcore techno bangers, good old house music, italo disco weepies, hip-hop belters and songs about travelling on the bus, Barry Manilow and Chelsea football club. 

We handmade a large number of individual sleeves for the compilation: 

You can see more sleeves on our Instagram and please contact us if you would like a physical copy.

PZtoday workshop DreamzHouse

The artist PZ came to The Gate to build dream houses with our artists. Some people made bricks, some people designed wallpaper, some people did interior design, some people added extensions to their existing homes. The workshop works will form part of a self-published PZ book, forthcoming in February. 

London Fashion Week - Ashley Williams SS24

Fashion designer Ashley Williams collaborated with The Gate for her hotly-anticipated SS24 runway show for London Fashion Week. The collaborative pieces featured in the show were created at a series of workshops hosted by The Gate. 

Here's an article in Dazed.

We travelled to Islington in September to see the show which was held in a large underground concrete atrium, apparently a former music hall awaiting redevelopment. We arrived early to tackle the many stairs and got to see the fashionable people filling up the benches after us ready to watch the show. 

The show started with a small witch looking figure holding a staff walking into the middle of the cavernous space to the sound of 'Everytime' by Britney Spears:

🎶 Notice me

      Take my hand 🎶

From there we were led on a comfy, cute journey into an apocalyptic future.

Here is a selection of the pieces that The Gate collaborated on with Ashley Williams: