full-time at the deli and she’s also doing some extra shifts at a gallery in Deptford. “I hope it’s just a matter of time before I can afford having another studio. But, I’m also aware that I’ll probably never be able to afford a [studio] in Peckham again,” she said. When asked if she would consider moving further out in order to stay in London she said that she does not have any problems with moving. And then she added: “But, then the costs for travel become a problem instead.” Green doesn’t know where the future will take her: “I know I want to be here now, but I’ll probably just be able to stay here for another year or so.”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like things will become easier for young artists like Ahlberg, Hansen and Green. Last year the Greater London Authority announced that the number of affordable studios in London are expected to decrease by 30 per cent within the next five years. And on top of this, the cost for living in London is exected to increase five per cent a year for the next five years, according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
Something has to change before London becomes a playground for only the rich. Politicians need to open their eyes for the consequences that follow from their decisions and the notion that artists will always find a way to survive needs to stop. With no affordable place to work or live artists will not be able to stay in London and one of the world’s art capitals is about to become a showroom for art that is being produced elsewhere.
Note: Southwark Council did not want to comment on the borough’s future plans for artists.
that London is “one of the creative capitals in the world” but that it comes with a very high price tag, which he thinks is an obstacle for anyone trying to make it in the creative industry. Hansen believes that the on-going gentrification is killing the diversity of the art scene, as only the economically privileged people can afford to stay. The high living cost makes it difficult for creatives to bring in another perspective or be daring, since people cannot afford to lose, he said.
So, the question is what do creatives do when the price tag become too high? For Hansen the solution is to move. He’s already left Hackney to live in Nunhead, South London, but this time he has decided to leave London behind. Instead, he’s aiming for Stockholm, Sweden, which he hopes will be able to offer a more equal art scene where people can afford to live and work.
Others are not ready to give up on London just yet. South-London based artist Hannah Green agrees that the price of living in the city is too high, but she’s not ready to move on. She graduated with a fine art degree from Central Saint Martins six years ago and has since rented a studio spaces in Peckham. For the past years Green has mainly focused on her own projects and spent “literally all” her free time in her studio. In order to pay her bills she has also worked part-time in a deli just up the road from where she lives. But, for Green things started to change last year. The rent for both her studio space and her room increased “massively” and in the end she had to choose between staying in London or giving up her studio. Instead of spending time on her own project she had to increase her work hours at the deli. Now, she’s working almost