Twenty years ago, en route to his brother’s stag weekend in the country, Ollie Olanipekun watched a barn owl glide past his minibus and experienced a euphoric moment of mental clarity. From then on, looking up at the sky and watching birds became a way to slow down, still his active mind and relieve moments of stress. It was a life-changing moment that would eventually lead him to launch Flock Together, a birdwatching club that organises monthly walks for people of colour.
This month, he forms part of Shoreditch Design Week’s ‘Voices of Shoreditch’, a cohort of local designers and creatives pulled together by Shoreditch Design Week creative director Duncan Riches ‘to reflect the depth and diversity of talent in East London’. Olanipekun joins a distinguished coterie that includes Bethan Laura Wood, Jasper Morrison, Lee Broom and Martino Gamper, and the programme will showcase a selection of representative design pieces as well talks.
Ollie Olanipekun: from multidisciplinary creative to accidental birdwatcher
Having grown up on a Coventry housing estate, Olanipekun says he might have remained oblivious of the joys of nature had it not been for a brief stint in the cub scouts. 'I can thank my parents for that,’ notes Olanipekun. ‘They could see that I might be heading down a wrong path. It wasn’t for me in the end. I was battling with ADHD, and I found the uniform and the activities restrictive, but what it did do was introduce me to the possibilities of the great outdoors and exploring nature.’
Years later, while working in London as a creative director for clients such as Adidas, Burberry and Levis, he found high pressure projects became more manageable if he could step outside for an hour or so to wander in nature and take photos of birds. He began posting the pictures on social media and quickly found an enthusiastic following, finding a kindred spirit in one particular fan, Nadeem Perera, a young POC PE teacher at a primary school in Hackney, where Olanipekun also lived.
In 2020, against the backdrop of a global lockdown and Black Lives Matter protests, the seed of an idea formed and took flight in the pair’s minds, with their mutual love for birds and the power of community to heal in dark times leading them to set up Flock. At their first walk - at Walthamstow Wetlands, in east London - around 15 people turned up. But at the subsequent monthly birdwatching walks, which now cover the four corners of London, as well as further afield (there are chapters in Tokyo, Toronto and New York), the number has been considerably more - one walk in Richmond Park saw around 450 turn up. And it isn’t about being a nature expert or bird fanatic, nor do you need any special equipment (the walks are free but brand partnerships ensure binoculars and the like are provided). It’s about connecting people to the planet and each other through nature – both seeing it and feeling it – with midwalk talk sessions proving unexpectedly cathartic.
Olanipekun is full of energy and his brain is undeniably a hive of activity. The walks aren’t just during the day – there are twilight ones too – and Flock works with schools and youth groups to encourage children to start loving nature too, particularly those from undersupported or historically underrepresented backgrounds. Olanipekun’s OpenArea platform supports artists, architects and performers to create for and within green space, and he has also recently opened gallery Allotment to spotlight work that connects nature and culture. He is constantly juggling ideas for the future, which include weekend nature retreats and collaborations, as well as a current plan to create a nature reserve in his home borough of Hackney.
For his contribution to ‘Voices of Shoreditch’, he chose a pair of binoculars to represent his social philosophy. ‘They are the one piece of equipment that binds everyone involved in birdwatching,’ says Olanipekun. ‘No matter your experience, background or where you come from, binoculars are the shared object that says you are part of this. They are an invitation and an equaliser. But more than that, they represent curiosity itself. They are about choosing to look closer, to lean in, to pay attention to what others might pass by. In my work, that act of looking deeper has been everything. Binoculars have taught me the art of noticing - that when you really see, you gain new perspectives not just on nature, but on ideas, place and possibility. They are a reminder that the more you observe, the more you understand. And that understanding is where real connection begins.’
‘Voices of Shoreditch’ at Shoreditch Design Week is on 15-20 September at House of Icon, Shoreditch Town Hall, London EC1, shoreditchdesignweek.com. flocktogether.world, openarea.live, @allotment_e8