Fete Worse than Death

A Fete Worse Than Death – 20th Anniversary Exhibition and Fete

On Saturday the 19th July, Rivington Street EC2A will once again play host to A Fete Worse Than Death, a ‘hybrid pop culture extravaganza’ last held back in 1994.
An artistic and wholly anarchic interpretation of the traditional village fete, the event serves to highlight work from artists both established and emerging, and Stirling Ackroyd are delighted to once again be returning as sponsors and generous supporters.

Background:
The first Fete Worse Than Death, held in Shoreditch in the summer of 1993, was described by its creator Joshua Compston as an “artist’s garden fete” and strived to put a bizarre spin on this most rural of traditions.
Compston himself was a curator associated with the Young British Artists (YBA) group, the Fete… featured heavy involvement from this now infamous collective. Tracy Emin, Sarah Lucas, Gary Hume and others ran stalls, while Angus Fairhurst and Damien Hirst dressed as clowns, selling spontaneously created works for £1.
Both this event and the subsequent edition a year later drew crowds of over 4,000 - astonishing figures, considering the comparative bleakness of EC2A at that time.

20th Anniversary
This year’s Fete Worse Than Death follows in the traditions of its predecessors, promising assorted spectacles from limbo competitions to anthropomorphic vegetables. YBA mainstay Gavin Turk will be producing limited edition t-shirts for the event, and various satirical takes on village fete favourites will be dotted around the western side of Rivington Street from 12-8pm. Stirling Ackroyd will be hosting a charity tombola thanks to generous donations from many local Shoreditch businesses, with all proceeds going towards the Joshua Compston Foundation and the Royal Marsden Charity.

Alongside the daytime goings on, there will be an exhibition kicking off at the street’s Red Gallery that will run until the 31st July, displaying work from artists connected to the local area. Artefacts from the original Fete… will also be on show, alongside pieces from Compston’s Factual Nonsense gallery that was opened in Shoreditch back in 1992. The 20th anniversary will be marked at the exhibition on the 30th July, with celebrations that include an evening reception and a host of guest speakers.