Embrace the world of upcycling

What upcycling has to offer to the people of London.

London is brimming with world-class art which comments on the current climate crisis the world is facing.

Exhibitions such as ‘Eco Visionaries: Confronting A Planet in a State of Emergency’ at The Royal Academy of the Arts, featuring artists, designers and architects such as Olafur Eliasson, Ant Farm, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Andrés Jaque, Tue Greenfort, Rimini Protokoll and Virgil Abloh, are exposing the audience to the current state of our planet. 

Such exhibitions speak directly to the urgent need to do more in the face of a global crisis, but for many that can be overwhelming.

A great way to start or continue your life the eco-friendly way is to consider the new materials you purchase and think about how you can upcycle.

All year-round, London offers a wide range of upcycling courses, exhibitions, workshops and professionals to interact with you and take you into the world of up-cycling.

Upcycling Festival

November 2019 saw the 4^th annual up-cycling festival. Held at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, the day-long event included talks and workshops on upcycling.  Throughout the space, up-cyclers from across the country exhibited, sold and entered their work in a competition judged by upcycling experts. The upcycling festival is open to all to enter and partake and learn. For more information on the festival and competition, click here.

Repair Cafes 

Not handy with fixing everyday items but so over throwing out old stuff and replacing it with new things? Repair cafes are located throughout London until the end of February in Enfield, Waltham Forest, Hackney, Islington, Haringey, Camden and Barnet, offering free repairs on everything from clothes to your broken bike rusting in the garden. The daily sessions are a way for you to learn one on one the process of fixing and upcycling.  For more information, click here.

The Remakery  

In a disused car park in Brixton, The Remakery is home to many local artists and social enterprises who upcycle an array of materials. From furniture, pallets, textiles and much more, resident artists re-create various adorning items from materials diverted from landfill.

The Remakery is home to anyone to come and create, running a membership service to rent out a workshop. Running various workshops all year-round for beginners to professionals, The Remakery is a space to buy artists’ work or interact with them and learn about the benefits of up-cycling.  Click here for more information.

The House of Up-cycling  

The House of Upcycling is a community of professional up-cyclers. Established in 2014 by Chris Billinghurst, who wanted to change the perception of up-cycling, it has slowly created a platform for people to seek professional up-cyclers.

The House of Upcycling has over 100 stores and artists to browse and buy off via its website, with a showroom based in Hammersmith that holds pieces from their members.

This list showcases how upcycling has turned from a niche practice into a movement in the face of environmental adversity.

Individuals have had the foresight to come together and create communities of creators, supplied by the world’s abundance of materials that can be upcycled into something new and exciting.

From beginners intrigued by upcycling, intermediates wanting to further their skills or professionals seeking exposure, there are boundless opportunities for you to embrace the world of upcycling.  

Upcycling artwork courtesy of arte pilpilean egon via Flickr Creative Common licence CC BY-NC-SA 2.0