The 7th annual Art Licks Weekend starts on October 17th so we’re told. This year, the city-wide London event “takes on the theme of Interdependence, the importance of which is considered in light of increasing economic and political pressures”, personally as someone who has been involved in running an artist-;led London gallery for as long as the Art Licks weekend has been around I;ve found then unfriendly,, aloof and extremely unresponsive in terms of communication or anything else, not once have  managed to get any kind of response or engagement from anyone from Art Licks

“The Art Licks Weekend is an annual festival that showcases the work of pioneering artists, curators, and project spaces in London. This year the festival takes on the title of Art Licks Weekend: Interdependence. The Art Licks Weekend is an annual festival that celebrates the activity of artist-led and non-profit project spaces across London; it launched in 2013 and is part of the larger organisation”, you would have thought that was Cultivate in a nutshell, especially during the Vyner Street days, but no, not even a go away from them – “For its seventh year, the Art Licks Weekend (17–20 October 2019) takes on the theme of Interdependence: considering how participating projects work within a network of friendship, exchange and shared dialogue. Interdependence is important to consider today, as the outlook for artists starting a career across the country becomes ever more difficult alongside growing economic and political pressures. The Art Licks Weekend explores how artists are responding to these challenges. Rather than working in isolation and being ‘independent’ from the system, these groups depend on community and acknowledge the importance of collectivism, support, care, and friendship as structures for working. This year’s festival asks, what is most important when working together? What is it to care and what investment does that require? What structures need developing for sustainable outcomes? The Art Licks Weekend 2019 is funded by Arts Council England Grants for the Arts, Outset, and the Art Licks Weekend Patrons”

Meanwhile we have another Month-long very independent, one might even say an interdependent Cultivate Columbia Road take over coming up in November, more about that soon, It is just over eight years since we cleared an almost derelict space full of broken furniture and old bits of god knows what in a day and put on the first Cultivate show some 22 hours after we signed a rental agreement for that space in Vyner Street. We’ve put on getting near to two hundred very independent interdepedent artist-led shows now with very very little support from anyone other than the couple of thousand or so artists who have been involved in various shows big and small. We’re looking forward to November, watch this space…