The Leaway is a project providing a continuous walking and cycling route connecting Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to the Royal Docks and the River Thames. The Leaway has made parts of the River Lea fully accessible to the public for the first time.
At a time of dramatic change for east London, Create is an organisation with expertise in delivering long-term creative projects that contribute to improvements in neighbourhoods across east London. Through a series of live events, interventions and art projects that took place in the summer of 2015, Create worked with young people, artists and people living locally to understand the important contribution the River Lea and its landmarks have made to the lives of Londoners.
The arts organisation Create who were leading the programme, partnered with Rosetta Arts to work with a group of their young people and artist Leigh Clarke to create artworks inspired by the River Lea and the recycling factories that are a short walk from Rosetta Arts base in West Ham. The images created during the workshops were used to illustrate stories for the Odd Guide booklet entitled ‘Dirt’.
Three guides made up the Odd Guide booklet series: ‘Dirt’, ‘Nature’ & ‘Food’ and ‘Trade & Industry’, as well as the Odd Soundtrack: ‘Grime up the River’. The printed guides were available to collect from dispensers installed at various locations: Cody Dock, Olympic Park: Aquatics Centre and Trinity Buoy Wharf, all situated along the Lea River Park walkway. The Odd Guides were designed by Joe Hales and cover illustration by Jonny Hannah.
The full project catalogue can be viewed here: http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/10993/
The Leaway project was delivered by the London Legacy Development Corporation, London Borough of Newham, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and Poplar HARCA, supported by the Mayor of London and Transport for London. It was included in ‘Lea River Park: a new landscape for London’ Exhibition, New London Architecture, The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, London WC1E 7BT
