The words ‘street culture’ get bandied far too often: by advertising honchos dropping edgy commercials to sell product, in social media hashtags fused with posts that contain fluffy representations of ‘urban’ realness, and by fashion campaigns that urge you to splurge on an outfit that costs more than your monthly take-home pay.

Saying that, most Londoners know that Peckham is where you find homegrown, authentic street culture that isn’t played out and doesn’t kowtow to commercialism.

Copeland Park has supported young artists from the get-go so CRXSS PLATFXRM came to the right place to bring you this new multi-art form festival showcasing a crop of under-the-radar artists currently driving UK street culture.

On Friday 17th and Saturday 18th August, the NSF Group and Arts Council England supported CRXSS PLATFXRM will showcase music, dance, performance, visual art, spoken word, digital art, fashion and film from artists redefining what street culture is and how it is perceived. Holding court in a 5-room warehouse gallery space at Copeland Park, the event is also FREE, which is a total result.

Grab a free ticket (it’s £5 on the night) and head down if you want to hear Rudimental’s live vocalist Afronaut ZU, DJ collective BBZ, French techno pioneer NSDOS and digital GIF artist Kate Bones among other up-and-coming names.

Born and raised in Peckham, curator and artistic director Ivan Blackstock knows how important art and culture at street-level is for creating an innovative space for rappers such as Denzel Himself and VR master JP Trang to flourish.

“Street culture operates outside mainstream cultural institutions and is frequently under represented and under valued within established cultural conversations. I created Crxss Platfxrm to make a space for this work and these voices,” Ivan Blackstock

Having worked with The Young Vic, Nowness, Dizzee Rascal and Adidas among others, Ivan knows a thing or two about enabling young people to make an impact on the city’s cultural landscape. And in the spirit of Copeland Park’s central ethos, you can bet we know a thing or two about hosting a party that’s fun, grassroots and inclusive.

Head down to Copeland Gallery on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th August 2018 at 133 Copeland Park, London SE15 3SN to hear and see those voices for yourself.

Friday 17th August: Artist preview 5-7pm (not open to the public) | Open to the public: 7pm-late

Saturday 18th August: 2pm-late