Village Underground

A Bit About Village Underground - villageunderground.co.uk.

Village Underground was born of the need for affordable, environmentally stable studio space for artists in East London. We convinced Hackney Council to let us take over a roofless, burned out, derelict warehouse adjoined to a lost section of the Victorian Broad Street Rail Viaduct, which had been left sleeping for decades, self seeding into a meadow high above the streets.

From these abandoned spaces came Village Underground, a non-profit space for creativity and culture in the heart of East London. VU’s distinctive reused trains and containers provide creative workspace for up to 50 artists, writers, designers, filmmakers, VJ’s, musicians and other practition- ers working side-by-side in a creative community. Below, VU’s main art centre space runs an ec- lectic programme of concerts and electronic music, exhibitions, theatre, live art performances and other events. Today VU works with more than 1000 artists a year, employs around 50 people and is on the cusp of launching its second project in Lisbon.

The founder is stepping back from the day-to-day operations and running of the business to focus on its next phase - growing through local and international expansion, a new Community Cultural Programme and other creative endeavours. Seven years in and with a solid foundation, VU is look- ing for a new MD to take the reigns and drive it forward.

The Vision for the Future of VU

The core belief of VU is that the power of culture lies in inspirational, transformative experiences that have the capacity to change perceptions, people and societies.

The core purpose of VU is the present, support and produce the best new culture as it happens, pushing inspiration and creating experiences that transform people’s perceptions.

VU’s mission is to achieve this through the development of both its cultural and community pro- grammes and creative ‘platforms’ that engage artists and audiences locally, nationally and interna- tionally – festivals, creative workspaces, artistic communities – all powered by the main dynamo of the 21st century arts centre.

The next stage in VU’s evolution is the further development and expansion of these platforms and in particular the expansion of the art centres model, with new centres at home and abroad.