When you step into the quarters, you'll first notice all the personality that the architecture of Brick Lane holds – and it's not subtle. Upon first glance, it seems to be all in the graffiti. It's everywhere. I feel like I was transported back to the rough areas of Naples (why is it always the east by the way?). I'm now on a mini quest to figure out exactly why there's so much of it here.
So I was informed that there is a lot of industrial history in Brick Lane, which had me compelled to investigate the history of the place. I'm wondering if the graffiti was a result of poor working conditions which – in turn – caused some sort of political instability.
Towerhamlets.gov.uk take us through a timeline of this urban treasure: the story begins in the second half of the 17th century when French Protestant refugees commenced the century-old project through weaving silk. That's it. It all started from silk houses dotted around Spitalfields. And it was in the same century that the Truman Brewery was bought. In the 18th century, Brick Lane Market was developed for farmers to sell their produce. I'm not sure if I should feel proud or just simply empathise that the brewery was developed before the food market was. Nah, who am I kidding, I'm definitely proud. The rest of this century and the 19th were defined by the settlement of the Jewish community who, soon after, fled with the threat of the Second World War. This made way for Bengalis to find work in Jewish tailoring or building vivacious restaurant businesses. Over the course of the years, there have been major influxes of different cultures from all over the world, which have brought such diversity in a range of industries from art, entertainment, fashion and cuisine.
I noticed that there was so much self-expression in every drink I was served, all the different ambiances I was invited into and all the different cuisines that I could smell. You'd think that Brick Lane would lack in identity from all this diversity, but they have seamlessly merged over all these years into an industry of open-mindedness, discovery and acceptance and goes about this in a very casual tone.
My friend is a big fan of the bagel shops around there, so we headed into Brick Lane Beigel Bake and attempted to choose something from the menu. He said that the salt beef was the most popular but I'm always sceptical of the really popular ones because businesses tend to fill these products with everything they can think of. That was the case until this gent, who was eating a salt beef bagel on the only table there was, insisted that we had to have salt beef. And I could smell that rich meat from his plate – and suddenly it was all I could smell. I have the appetite for salt beef now. I needed a good amount of protein and it seemed salt beef was the way to go. I should have built myself up to it though. I should've started off with something like tuna or simply cheese because salt beef was just too good. It was burger territory… and now I'm worried that if I buy anything less than salt beef, it's not going to be as good. I love salmon and I love tuna and cheese (I've never tried chopped herring…), and the bagels themselves were soft and fluffy, like genuine Polish dough, but salt beef is the weekend treat you want every weekday.
We decided to hydrate our stomach linings at Juju's, a club by the Truman Brewery down the street from Brick Lane. When we entered, I found myself taken aback by the subtle South American/European vibes of the club. The place was spacious, not quite as populated as you might think it would be, but enough to create an atmosphere, which was perfect if you had been smoking a little ganja. The slow, rhythmic music, the different personalities with different outfits and different modes of dance, and the questionable (in a good way, of course) artwork made me want to investigate more and stand back to observe at the same time.
This might just be because we're junkies, but we were shocked every time these places would tell us that they were starting to close. I wanted more, I wanted more ambiance from that pub near Liverpool Street, more of the connections from Juju's and Dirty Martini. It's difficult to go wrong in London because they treat their businesses as art projects and it's obvious that they genuinely care for them. There is an incredible amount of diversity in and around Brick Lane, but none of it provides any kind of answer as to why there is so much graffiti here and what each piece might represent. Timeout's post on the Chinese political wall graffiti leads me to believe that the decorations throughout the street maintain connotations of protest, and these expand much further than the Chinese protest. But a little investigation into Shoreditch street art with Tom Nicoll from Allsop has me thinking that all this graffiti simply is an art form that has transformed itself from rebellion to a recognised form of art. I'm just so confused as to why there is such a concentration of street art in Brick Lane.
An article in Widewalls examines this phenomenon even further, focusing on Shoreditch's fight against gentrification, which can be detrimental to the cost of living and encourage the nation-wide problem of the housing crisis.
Shoreditch just has so much personality and pride and I really admire the zeal artists have to do what they do best and take advantage of the many abandoned buildings and warehouses for important political reasons. The bravery and the talent seem to create a close sense of community and some kind of collective understanding that has me drawn to the area, feeling the effects of such inspiration. My understanding of the area now is that inhabitants have a love for life – not the indulgent kind, but the care they put into it and how they defend it with all their might.
Related Posts
