City Stories: Favourite Shoreditch Galleries

Shoreditch is one of my favourite areas in London and having lived in the neighbourhood for over 10 years, I came to call it my home. I really love that despite the fact of Shoreditch becoming quite mainstream in the past few years, it’s still full of hidden gems.

For this post, I have teamed up with the Point A Hotels which is a brand new hotel group launching 6 hotels across London, including Shoreditch. I love their concept as they offer really comfortable rooms at a competitive price with the focus to encourage their guests to come out and explore the neighbourhood that they are staying in. They have asked me to take part in this amazing project where I get a chance to share my favourite Shoreditch things to do. I picked my favourite galleries with to start with, and in the next couple of weeks, I will share my favourite brunch and date spots, so make you sure you check back.

The Point A Hotels provided me with the crew so I had a chance to film the places I picked and show them to you guys in a video format 🙂 There will be a video for every blog post so I really hope you enjoy the content we created.

Without much further ado, here are my top 3 favourite galleries in Shoreditch that you should definitely check out if you are in the area.

Calvert 22 Foundation

Calvert 22 Foundation located on 22 Calvert Avenue, is one of my favourite art spaces to visit. They have a cool coffee shop which is great as I come in with my laptop and do some work. What’s really cool about this gallery is that they want to educate on the culture and creativity of the New East which includes Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Russia and Central Asia. The aim is to develop further understanding of these region enriching the perceptions in the process.

Calvert 22 has a great selection of talks and screening which you can check here, as well as exhibition and events.

Parasol unit

Parasol unit is a foundation of contemporary art showcasing both local and international artist. They are also connected to its neighbour gallery Victoria Miro so it’s really cool that you can visit both at the same time. My favourite thing about it is it’s cool hidden garden showing really cool installations. It’s such a perfect spot to escape the craziness of Old Street. The outdoor light installation is by Nathaniel Rackowe – Black Shed Expanded (as part of Parasolstice – Winter Light 2016) ends Sunday 12 March 2017.

The exhibition we’ve seen is by Tschabalala Self, an American artist focusing on showing the human shape and form through a variety of painting, print, collage and sculpture. You can find more information about Parasol unit’s current and upcoming exhibition here.

Unit 5 Gallery 

Unit 5 Gallery is another cool Gallery focused on showing contemporary and urban art. What’s amazing about Unit 5 Gallery is that it’s a platform for a local artist that are not part of the mainstream art world. It looks to bring the street art into the gallery space with social and political elements demonstrated through the exhibited art. The Unit 5 is also a workshop and the last stop for everyone who takes part in the walking tour of Shoreditch street art. The gallery is just off the Hackney-road and a hidden gem in a true meaning of the word and it’s definitely the most East London, out of all the galleries I picked.

To make this post more fun, Point A Hotels is offering two lucky winners the chance to win a personalised VIP experience and stay for two in Shoreditch/Glasgow. Three runners up will win a £500 cash. To enter, CLICK HERE but hurry as the competition ends 20th of March 🙂

Have you guys been to Shoreditch? What do you think of my recommendations and also how do you like the video tour?

Tania xxx