It is rare for an arts and community organisation to have as many locations in one city as SET does – with 14 centres spread across London, each of SET’s locations become embedded in the local neighbourhoods, growing communities around them.

As we started working on the ‘Let the Grassroots Grow’ exhibition programme, it was important for us to honour the diverse communities of London and invite local audiences to interact with the video works. We settled on three SET sites – Woolwich, Ealing and Tower Gateway. The histories of each site were shaped by the ongoing transformation of the city, as businesses move and buildings become empty, creating new spaces for artists and communities to meet.

Image credit: “Let the Grassroots Grow” shown at SET Woolwich garden, video by Crowe and Rawlinson, photographed by Amina Ali

In 2021, SET Woolwich opened as the flagship SET Centre, situated in a sprawling 140,000 square-foot former office block. Home to over 600 artists occupying almost 300 artist workspaces, it is a vibrant community. Based in Riverside House – former Greenwich Council and HMRC offices, this remarkable site boasts lots of natural light, a well utilised project space, a community garden, and the dynamic arts space, SET Vault. Located on the site of a former bank vault, SET now host an experimental and eclectic programme of music & performance, workshops & events. Woolwich is SET’s largest site with a large community of artists in the studios and a community café.

Because of the importance of the Woolwich building in the SET ecosystem, launching ‘Let the Grassroots Grow’ in the UK at the annual Woolwich Open Studios event in September 2024 felt very fitting. The launch was accompanied by a series of events and workshops in the garden, about which you can read more in our previous blog: https://www.cultural-bridge.info/blog/meeting-in-the-garden-videocity-at-set-woolwich/

SET Ealing


Image credit: “Let the Grassroots Grow” shown at SET Ealing, video by Abi Palmer, photographed by Amina Ali

Following from Woolwich, in November 2024 the exhibition travelled to the community space in SET Ealing adjoining the main studio building, which is regularly used by members of the local community, to host workshops, events and meetings. In many ways, this is a unique aspect of the SET Ealing site, since it provides a space for the associate members to share their work.

SET Ealing is housed in two floors of former offices, a pawn brokers, a mattress showroom & a betting shop. The building first opened in April 2022 and was SET’s first location in West London, addressing the need for affordable creative spaces in the Ealing borough. SET Ealing features 37 studios, a spacious project space on the high street, and a newly opened community space run by Sukant Chandan, an activist, speaker, and musician.

SET Ealing has hosted locally organised events celebrating the rich history of West Ealing, including the legacy of The Walter Rodney Bookshop, founded by Eric and Jessica Huntley in 1975 as one of the first Black-owned bookshops in the country. Through our free studio prize, we have provided space to Assiya Amini, who has led the Afghan Academy International in Ealing for several decades.

The community space adjoins the building for studio-holders, and this is occupied by members of the local community, to host workshops, events and meetings. It felt important for us to use this space as it is used in an organic, grassroots manner and it also has a central location on West Ealing High Street, just off St James Avenue. This is a crucial location in the local area as it leads to important heritage centres such as St James Church, and multiple schools, and a range of stores both commercial and independent which are located along the high street.

This made the community space a great location to position ‘Let the Grassroots Grow’ on a large monitor facing the street on a busy walkway which welcomes people shopping, commuting to school and work, and also the high street.  Having the exhibition being visible through the windows 24/7 helped members of our local community to engage with the show at times that suited them, in some cases encountering the installation daily and experiencing how the surroundings can influence an encounter with an artwork.

During the installation process, we were very involved in cleaning windows, sticking up posters and preparing the site for our launch. This was unique experience, especially to be doing this along a busy high street but it was wonderful as a launchpad for many organic conversations and interactions with the local community. It allowed us a new platform to explain the work of SET to local community and the ethos behind the exhibition. Whilst intermittently visiting the site, to take photos or be available for conversations with the public, it was lovely to witness encounters with the show. Many people who were evidently busy slowed down or stopped to take in the show.


Image credit: “Let the Grassroots Grow” shown at SET Tower Gateway, video by Crowe & Rawlinson, photographed by Andrea Domesle.

The last stop of ‘Let the Grassroots Grow’ was at SET Tower Gateway. Exhibited in window facing the street like at SET Ealing, the monitor was visible 24/7 in from mid-December 2024 to mid-January 2025, concluding the project’s tour around London.

SET Tower Gateway was previously a commercial space located below a tower block. Its SET’s smallest site for studio provisions and our original site in central London, which launched as a SET centre in December 2022. Even though it is located in a very different area of London to SET Ealing, both sites have similarities as they are located on very busy streets.

The site’s location, in the heart of the City of London (the historic financial district in central London) and only a few minutes away from the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, gives us the unique opportunity to be one of the rare arts spaces within the boundaries of this district. Being so centrally located, this site has an unprecedented footfall even in comparison to other busy London high streets.

SET Tower Gateway is surrounded by commercial buildings, and our neighbours in this area are primarily those who work in the economic and professional services. Moreover, being in the neighbourhood of major tourist attractions with significant historical importance in British history, SET Tower Gateway interacts with international visitors, giving space to video artists in the heart of London, re-emphasising our connection to the natural world in an area of London which can often feel sterile and strictly commercial.

Watching the exhibition from the pavement, it has been truly wonderful to encounter people of all sorts in their very busy lives, in this part of the city stopping and interacting with the show. Many people have stopped to watch and take pictures and even ask questions about the show and SET.

Looking back, the journey of ‘Let the Grassroots Grow’ showcases the diversity of what it means to be an arts and community organisation in London. From a curatorial perspective, placing exhibitions in public spaces, we reached a far larger audience that traditional gallery exhibitions and had the opportunity to interact with passers-by who hadn’t previously engaged with our programme. Our aim has been to bring new ways of thinking about our natural surroundings through video art to communities from East to West London. Every area has its distinct features and local differences, and each exhibition location co-created the meaning of the videos, influencing their perception with reflections, urban soundscapes and street activities. The experience of seeing the exhibition across the three SET locations showed how vibrant and different a city can be.

Written by Amina Ali, Curatorial Assistant for ‘Let the Grassroots Grow’ at SET, Polina Chizhova, Videocity.