News Report by Kamal Prabhakar Uk Corrospondent  :

Brief Introduction of The Old Bank Vault

The Old Bank Vault is a contemporary art gallery that hosts exhibitions, private views,
workshops and events, selling affordable art in a highly curated setting. Located at
the crossroads of old and new Shoreditch, it celebrates and unifies the two worlds as well as the area’s creative heritage.

The gallery exhibits a wide range of handpicked artists including established
names like Nat Bowen and Rob Ryan to emerging talent including Bokani Tshidzu
and Roy Jones As well a range of medium from street art photography to acrylic and charcoal.
Gallery owner Sim Takhar, whose family has owned and run fashion businesses
from Hackney Road for three generations, has grown up steeped in a love of the area,
It’s shifting communities and deep creativity that pulses through its streets. The gallery’s name reflects
its own history that dates back to the roaring Twenties, when it was a Barclays bank branch;
the gallery still has the original old wrought iron vault door in its basement. It went
through various iterations, including a pharmacy until Takhar’s family bought it to
use as a warehouse for their business established in the 1990s.
In 2017, Takhar took over the space and transformed it from a working warehouse 
into an elegant, contemporary space with a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere – giving 
the building a new chapter in its eclectic history. The Old Bank Vault was founded with a sense of inclusion

at its heart Along with public and private views, The Old Bank Vault hosts music nights where emerging
musicians perform while guests enjoy the blend of music, art and local craft beer in a
relaxed setting, working in collaboration with other local businesses. Older local residents
also enjoy creative mornings at the gallery in conjunction with the local charity East
London Cares. Past community events have including meditation Mondays and
Poetry slams With the gallery acting as a creative community hub, uniting new and old local residents.
As well as the physical gallery, The Old Bank Vault offers online exclusives that
are free to access for all. These include an online exhibition of local street art, and an ongoing series
Beyond The Vault, featuring artists including Rebecca Mason, Jayson Lilley
and Allan Watson, [may adjust this] discuss the works hanging in their own private
space ,lending an insider, private view to the inner workings of an artist’s tastes.
Brief Introduction of SIM TAKHAR :

Sim Takhar grew up surrounded by the fashion business – literally. Her
grandparents established a footwear business in Hackney in the 1970s which went on to supply retailers

including Fenwick’s. Her parents also owned and ran a fashion business and
Sim grew up immersed with an appreciation for business and creativity, as well as practical, hands on
experience.
Recognising her artistic drive from a young age, she studied architecture at university,
becoming a CAD technician at a leading architect’s practice. Later she took up photography,
documenting street scenes in and around London, as well as on her travels around
the globe to places including India, Japan and Russia. After putting on an exhibition of her portraits at
a gallery in Shoreditch she realised that while she loved photography as a private
Passion  it was hosting and curating an exhibition that was her true calling.
In June 2017 she opened The Old Bank Vault, transforming a warehouse that had
been home to her family’s fashion business into a stylish, contemporary art gallery.
Trawling everything from art fairs to scouting the hottest up and coming artists on social media,
She has built up a collection of exciting contemporary artists, both well-known and
emerging names at a range of accessible price points.
Takhar is currently working on her first book, The Next Chapter, which draws collaborations
from local artists and photographers to document Hackney Road and its ever-
Changing and often dramatic history and famous residents to the artistic, subversive undercurrent, that both the book and The Old Bank Vault aim to celebrate.

For more details visi our website : http://www.theoldbankvault.com