The ECH and London's Old East Village BIA to promote local arts

5/11/2021

Art by Simon Shegelman commissioned by the Old East Village BIA to promote the area.

The Embassy Cultural House (ECH) and the Old East Village Business Improvement Area (OEV BIA) are pleased to announce a collaboration to support and promote local arts and culture in the historic Old East neighbourhood in London, Ontario.

The ECH, an online community arts and cultural space, has physical roots and history in east London going back to its original founding as the Embassy Cultural House in 1983, formerly located in the old Embassy Hotel on Dundas St. The site of the hotel is currently being developed by Indwell as the future Embassy Commons, an affordable housing project, to open in the spring of 2022.

The Old East Village BIA works to support businesses and cultural programming, alongside citizens of the area. Through the Old East Village Community Improvement Plan, they are a part of the continued development of a vibrant and much-loved part of London.

These two organizations have ambitious plans for a community arts program that will both engage local artists as well as future residents of the Embassy Commons, adding to the cultural life of Old East Village. A number of exciting projects are in the planning stages: from storefront displays of art linked to QR codes (#cloudtostreet), to an online exhibition of the art murals of OEV on the ECH website. There are also discussions for a potential arts festival, linked to the reopening of Dundas St., in spring 2022. Stay tuned for updates. Please contact us for more information.

Read the essay 'at the Ech' by Marwan Hassan on his memories of art and culture

The old Embassy Hotel was located at 732 Dundas Street East at the heart of the Old East Village. The Embassy Cultural House was established in 1983, as a community-driven gallery and hosted interdisciplinary programs. It closed its physical doors in 1990. In 2020 the Embassy Cultural House was re-envisioned as a virtual artist-run space and community website.

Read the catalogue on the Embassy Cultural House publish in 2012 for an exhibition at Museum London curated by Bob McKaskell.

Rendition of the affordable housing project "Embassy Commons" to be built on the old site of the Embassy Hotel, 2020. The façade of the building will include a three floor high replica of Jamelie Hassan 1978 watercolour "embassy at nite".

Jamelie Hassan, Embassy at Nite. The watercolour was donated to the Museum London's permanent collection by the former Embassy Hotel owner and Jamelie's sister Helen Haller in 2019.

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The Embassy Cultural House (ECH) is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton peoples, at the forks of Deshkan Ziibi (Antler River), an area subject to the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum and other treaties, colonized as London, Ontario. The ECH strives to create meaningful relationships between the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and our contributors. The ECH honours the stewardship of the many Indigenous peoples who have resided on these lands since time immemorial.