Who we are

Metroland Cultures is a studio and arts organisation in a former health clinic behind Kilburn Market in Brent, North West London.

Metroland Cultures is a studio and arts organisation in a former health clinic behind Kilburn Market in Brent, North West London.

Inspired by the building’s legacy of community care, our work is led by an ethos of stewardship. Stewarding enables us to ask questions about how we build and prioritise community through and around the resources that we maintain and nurture, co-producing our studio building as a space of interdependence, shaped together with the artistic community around it and our neighbours in Kilburn.

At a time when spaces for artists and communities to gather and create are increasingly under threat, we’re committed to maintaining a resource that puts collectivity over profit. Through our free studio programme, we prioritise marginalised and working-class artists nurturing cultural and community infrastructure.

Through this approach we work collectively with others to produce art and research responding to the lived realities, imaginations, and organising histories of our neighbourhood.

Our free, year-round public programme includes exhibitions, events, workshops, studio residencies, and artist development initiatives. In our Kilburn space, we host a gallery, a social space, and community-led activities led and shaped by our studio holders, including a printing press, zine library, film school, cinema and radio station.

As a growing organisation, our work moves at different rhythms. We give time, space, and support for ideas to grow slowly through care, conversation, and research — but we’re also able to act quickly when needed, responding to the energy and urgency of artists and our community. Scaling what we do enables us to pay closer attention to artists’ and organisers’ needs within our building and be responsive within our programming to reflect and react to the changes within our communities and immediate context.

Artist Studios

Meet the artists and cultural organisations resident in Metroland Studios.

Artist Development

We run programmes that support artists in Brent to develop their practice and advance their careers.

Research and Programme

Our work is focused on collaborative projects to produce art and research, supporting artists and communities to create new work together—reflecting local stories, histories, and hopes for the future

Biennials

Art events and exhibitions in public spaces and community venues in Brent.

Young People

We are committed to investing in the future of Brent. We do this by supporting young people aged 18 – 24 to be part of the cultural life of the borough.