The team at the East End’s famous Rich Mix have reopened the arts centre tonight for the first time since March after the Covid emergency.
But the staff haven’t been idle. They have been busy behind the scenes to make the building in Bethnal Green Road safe to reopen.
The rear has been spruced up with more than a lick of paint in a giant mural for the start of the London Mural Festival.
But the live music stage is not open for performances, although the bar area has been revamped with socially-distant tables.
One of its first events is a walkabout around Brick Lane looking for the shadows of people from the past.
Tamasha artist Afsana Begum and her Rightful Place community theatre are holding We Are Shadows street tours starting from the square opposite Rich Mix.
“This real Brick Lane has history,” Afsana says. “Discover beyond the curry house strip the people who have cast their shadows on these pavements.”
The one-hour tour on foot begins with a phone call on your smart phone. It runs to October 2, booked online.
The Rich Mix cinema has also reopened with two screenings a day, both blockbusters and independent films with “socially distant” screens.
All public safety measures have been brought in along with discounts for NHS workers who get 10 per cent off and Tower Hamlets residents who get £6 tickets every Tuesday and Wednesday.
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