CREATING CHANGE
What cultural changes can we expect in 2020 and beyond? We find out with a group of people who are pushing for a more progressive and equal future.
In partnership with adidas Originals
The mainstream version of the 1970s can often look like a utopian dream of Studio 54 style disco’s, stylish flares, hippies living in communes and suburban houses full of new appliances, Angel Delight and lava lamps. However, for a lot of people the reality was that the 70s was a decade of unrest and inequality.
Alongside wide-spread protests, worker’s strikes and campaigns calling for policy change on women’s rights, there was a movement of creatives who were pushing for change through culture. Punk—the most visceral response to the political situation took hold towards the end of the decade, the first Rock Against Racism concert took place in 1976 featuring bands like The Clash and The Specials as a reaction to the rise of the National Front. In art the feminist avant-garde movement was producing work that questioned and challenged women’s roles in society and groups like the See Red Women’s Workshop were coming together to organise around women’s liberation issues and creating screen-printed protest posters.
Throughout the 70s people stood together and united behind a common vision to change society for the better. Released into this decade the adidas SL was adopted by cultural change makers and worn by those who were pushing for real progress in society.
Since the 1970s some battles have been won but on many social justice issues the fight continues today with a new generation of cultural change-makers. As we stand on the precipice of 2020 and a new decade we have partnered with adidas Originals to mark the re-release of this iconic adidas SL sneaker. Together we are looking forward and speaking to people from art, club culture, bio-design, politics and music to discuss how they’re creating change through culture. We’ll discuss the challenges they’ve overcome and the changes they’d like to see in 2020 and beyond.
Change isn’t linear and things can often look like a step backwards before we move forward so we also wanted to look back to track how far we’ve come. In our line-up we speak to original club kid Scarlett Cannon, who came of age in the late 70s, to get her perspective on how things have progressed culturally, where we’ve come from and where we should be headed in the next decade.
Joy Yamusangie, artist
“My identity influences my work but it isn’t always the core focus of my work.”
Josephine Chime and Ruby Savage of In Flames
“We just want everyone who comes to have a good time. To experience a real freedom because for us, it was very important to have that space. ”
Read Josephine and Ruby in conversation with Scarlett Cannon here.
Nathalie Olah, writer
“We've never been so valuable and there has to be more of us.”
Scarlett Cannon
“It was always the outsiders. We had fashion students, filmmakers and photographers and a lot of young creative people.”
Read Josephine and Ruby in conversation with Scarlett Cannon here.
Daisy Ginsberg, artist/designer
“There is the thinking that we can emancipate ourselves further from the natural world but a lot of the things we think are better are so divorced from what is actually good for us long term.”