Fishtank Festival 2009

October in London sees art lovers come out and frolic in the dead lifeless bodies of leaves before heading inside to some kind of arts festival. Frieze sees the big guns, Chelsea or Affordable for the new collector - a plethora of temporary, super galleries. But, what if the word 'festival' makes you yearn for the summer that’s flown the coop? The bands, the BBQ’s, the beers, the comedy and, of course, the art? Well, The Fishtank festival seems to have cottoned on to this gap in the art market.

Fishtank Festival is the brainchild of Lewis Maleh & Lee Bofkin - both charmingly exuberant about their arts project, and mutually eclectic in their backgrounds. Lee has a PHD in molecular biology from Cambridge, is a keen break-dancer and has worked as an investment analyst, while Lewis graduated from a chemistry degree only to work in fashion for 5 years before becoming a headhunter for a large corporation. Lewis proclaims with delight that they are both ‘corporate whores’ but the event feels far more grassroots then commercial.

The festival found itself a great home in The Rag Factory. Tucked back just off Brick Lane the venue allowed for passing trade on the day but its success ultimately lies in the amount of marketing the team put into it. The Facebook event page sent out over 3000 invites and Timeout Online suggested Fishtank Festival as their ‘Pick of the Weekend’. Needing 400 guests to make the festival break even, the duo were delighted at the 700 people who turned up on the day.

My day at Fishtank began with a quick drink in the bar and scoffing down some gourmet BBQ before climbing the stairs to the Aquarium stage for promised comedy. The stage seemed to be running late, but Adam Goodyear’s talk more than made up for the lack of a bonafide comedian. Genuinely funny and especially informative for anyone thinking of starting up their own business, Adam made the idea seem so appealing I’m almost planning to go it alone and set up a chain of 1950’s teashops.

Talking of teashops and all things yummy, by the bar, wittily named The Tank, was the charming and scrumptious butterfingers stall. Unfortunately for me, these ladies with cakes may have actually had the tea shop idea first, with the added advantage of delectable baked goods, in fact the only thing stopping me from eating my way through their entire stock of cupcakes was my inability to financially fund the habit. A tiny bit pricey at £2 but in the end a slice of cake from these ladies will put a sugary smile on your face.

Despite my desire for comedy in the Aquarium, I could wait no longer. Ethical fashion was about to stomp all over the floor of the main room. Founders of ethical fashion magazine Nu, Amisha Miller and Lauren Maleh were here at Fishtank for their debut fashion show. The magazine was launched in 2007 and the duo has seen the issue of ethical fashion hit the mainstream in the last couple of years. Fashion is often declared as art, so it was great to see fashion at an event like Fishtank and it seemed the festivalgoers thought so too, as it drew quite a crowd. Despite the show being a little short in clothes, and a little questionable with the make-up choices, I did enjoy the idea and hope that NU come back and give us even more to look at next year.

The Lake space housed a gallery, curated by Danielle Sachar. Sachar brought together an impressive collection of urban artists and held a spotlight to a lot of different disciplines. Beautiful photographic prints from Hyman Wolanski depicting 1970’s London and sinister large-scale charcoal and chalk portraits from Daniel Rundle were just some of the art treats on display.

There was so much going on, and so much to see, as with any festival, you always feel like you could have done or seen more. I missed out on the Burlesque and some of the acoustic music by candle light in the Aquarium, but for me, the highlights were most definitely the break-dance battle and gourmet BBQ. Both added something a little different, and gave the whole event an original flair. Barbequed new potatoes and seared beef with pesto and watercress paired with art and urban dance seems like the perfect combination to me.

While chatting to Lewis about his event he stressed that this was something dreamt up to really see what could be achieved, not just for him but for his friends too. He told me ‘We created this event because a lot of our friends have had issues with networking and not meeting the right people to build connections with’. The future seems bright for Fishtank, as it's highly probable that they will be commandeering a stage at the Secret Garden Party festival 2010. And who knows, with any luck we might find them becoming a regular part of London’s annual art festival madness.

Words & Photography: Laura Munday