Long before today’s renovated townhouses and fancy coffee shops, 1970s Islington was teeming with radical ideas. From socialist newsletter The Islington Gutter Press to feminist magazine Spare Rib and LGBTQ+ newspaper the Pink Paper, the borough was a haven for activism in print form.
Now, an artist-lead collective based in Angel is working to revive Islington’s activist past.
Gallery and cultural centre, Cubitt, launched its community press in 2024. Now on its third edition, the zine is handmade by volunteers with contributions from community groups around Islington. It is holding an exhibition, hosted by the local history centre and Finsbury Library, placing its work alongside historical print, such as newsletters and radio from Islington Bus Company, a collective centre which operated from a double decker bus in the 1970s.
Anahí Saravia Herrera is one of the curators of the exhibition and a Civic Fellow at Cubitt who helps run the Community Press.
“Islington already has a fair amount of community infrastructure available,” she said. “But we wanted to create a space where people can pick up a skill in a more autonomous way and actively share their own stories.”
For the next edition the group raised enough funds to purchase their own risograph, a kind of printer which can produce unique colours and textures. They host workshops for Islington residents, and anyone else with a connection to the borough, to learn how to use the printer and play a part in the paper’s publication.
“There’s something very exciting about print in a digital age. You can amplify and spread information online but with echo chambers how far can it really go,” Added Anahí.
For the group, she explained, print is a way of using posters and print to occupy public space and reach local people. Their issues so far have featured contributions from groups such as Islington Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and covered topics from social justice to Islington’s History.
Their next issue will focus on mapping Islington’s history and addressing the legacy of radical and community press which has been lost to gentrification.
“The Islington we know today used to hold very radical spaces but its’s been lost since the 80s,” said Anahí. “London is becoming more privatised, more expensive, and gentrification is cleansing spaces of radical grassroots work.
“One resident told us in their neighbours you can 10 places to get a coffee but nowhere to get a pair of socks… you can’t live in Angel anymore.”
It’s something Cubitt has had to battle in more ways than one. In January, they found that their current lease will not be renewed and the group will be forced to move after October 2026. They are yet to find an alternative space and are currently focused on a fundraising campaign to find a new home.
These current challenges bear resemblance to the campaigns of their predecessors, the radical and community press in 1970s/80s Islington.
“What we’re doing isn’t new,” said Anahí. “It’s part of a long legacy of radical work.”
