The Art of Progress

Soho design gallery 19 greek street was launched in 2012 by Marc Péridis, with the aim of shedding light on product designers using innovative, experimental and sustainable processes and materials in their work. Few others were focusing on this area in the same concentrated way as Marc at the time, or taking a more holistic view of the relationship between design and the spaces we inhabit and create. I joined 19 greek street as Associate Director in 2015, co-curating with Marc the 'ethical lifestyle' exhibition The Art of Progress. Spread over five floors of 19 greek street, the show presented a curated apartment featuring environmentally friendly furniture, art, tech and fashion; a café serving planet-friendly food and drink; a lecture salon, and a meditation room. Our partners for the show included the art collective Human Nature, Salt magazine, which held a series of talks on compassionate-business themes, and our Soho neighbours Bar Termini and La Polenteria. In 2016, we put on a second exhibition, Collectors' Club, collaborating with bo.lee gallery, Claire de Rouen Books and JING tea, which also centred on ethical and sustainability issues in art and design.