Agewell Social Network at The Lawns.

The project.

A Taste of Hackney is an innovative intergenerational project that charts the different contributions made by ethnic minorities to the culinary landscape of Hackney.

Participants will be trained in oral history, research skills, photography, web-design, blogging and app design and filmmaking to provide material to create the website, smartphone app (iPhone and Android), and exhibition.

The project will explore the Ridley Road market’s history from its humble origins in the mid 19th Century to its evolution as a hub of migration throughout the 20th Century. Between 1900 – 1950 it was the centre of the Jewish community, and since the 1950s several different ethnic groups have made Hackney their home.

Today the market mirrors Hackney’s diverse population with stalls full of Turkish, African and West Indian produce. Through sharing memories, researching local history, preparing, cooking and eating foods that have shaped the culinary/cultural palate of the area communities will rediscover the varied food heritages that have shaped the market.

Why?

From building relationships with traders to preparing meals as a family, the distractions of modern life are reducing collective cultural food traditions. This project will capture lost practices so future generations may learn the role the market has played in Hackney daily life. It provides an opportunity for residents to develop new skills and increase their knowledge of local heritage while also becoming artistic creators in their own right.

The project is about capturing past and present memories during a time of tremendous regeneration. It will bring together local people from different cultures and ages to acknowledge cultural diversity, while the app will enable a wider ‘passive’ audience to discover the untold stories of the borough’s past, as told by market traders and residents.

The idea of this project developed during discussions with local residents and traders. They identified the project as an innovative and creative way for them to learn new creative skills in heritage and digital literacy skills as well as to raise awareness with a wider audience, and with the Olympics fast approaching a smartphone app emerged as the ideal platform to share learning.

Who?

We aim to work with Year 6 pupils from Colvestone Primary School, local residents over the age of 50 including members of Hackney’s diverse ethnic communities, and the wider ‘passive’ audience who download the iPhone and Android app. Approximately 30 young people and at least 20 elders will collaborate to produce the content of the exhibition, website and smartphone app development.

We would like the service users from AgeWell in Hackney and Hackney Caribbean Elders Association to be part of the project. By encouraging older residents to participate in the project we wish to introduce and encourage older people to get involved in creating content for a Hackney based smartphone.

The final group of ‘beneficiaries’ will be the people who access the production either via the website and smartphone app. As further regeneration takes place in the surrounding area and a growing number of newcomers and visitors arrive on the streets of Dalston, the project provides they with a tool to explore the rich culture, character and history of the capital’s most ethnically diverse quarter.