Meet the man on a mission to revolutionise Camden's historic high street: 'It's a force for change'

Finn Brewster Doherty started Camden Open Air Gallery (COAG) in a bid to keep the London borough’s counter-culture heritage alive on a changing high street.

He tells Big Issue why his mission to revamp the high street hinges on more than just nostalgia.

Why did you start Camden Open Air Gallery?

I founded COAG at 22, during Covid. The high street was silent and uncertain. Where many saw decline, I saw an opportunity to build something meaningful. I started COAG because I’ve always believed Camden’s real value is its street culture, not its brand. 

What began as an art platform quickly became something bigger. In many ways, it is the only genuinely new cultural offering Camden High Street has seen in two decades. It became less about selling art and more about creating something public. A reason to pause, engage, and feel that the street still belongs to the people shaping it.

I’ve been able to take risks that many cannot. I’m 27, I don’t have children or a mortgage, and I come from a comfortable background. We are focused on our bottom line, but I know that if everything failed, I wouldn’t lose my home.

This is a privilege that not everyone has, which is one of the reasons for working with Big Issue, as I believe everyone should have access to shelter and to opportunities. If you have the ability to take risks, you have a responsibility to use it. 

Many younger people feel the system has not worked for them. Many older people built wealth during one of the greatest periods of expansion in modern history. Those are different lived experiences. If we do not acknowledge that, we talk past each other. I didn’t realise it at the time, but part of starting COAG was about proving that if you build something real, culturally credible and rooted in place, people will show up. The demand has not disappeared. The system has simply made it harder for most people to take the risk.

Read more:

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What are the problems Camden faces?

Large parts of Camden High Street now feel hollowed out. Repetitive retail. Low-quality tourist offerings. A street trading on its past while carrying some of the highest fixed costs in London.

Over the past two years, small businesses have absorbed relentless cost increases. Energy, insurance, rent, National Insurance and business rates have all risen in quick succession. At the same time, real incomes have fallen. Consumers are under pressure. Margins have been stripped back to the point where there is little left to reinvest. 

There is a clear disconnect between how the high street is discussed and what is happening on the ground. The consequences are already visible. Closures. Slower investment. Rising unemployment.

What is being asked of independents is not sustainable. They are expected to absorb higher costs and disruption while competing with global operators built on entirely different economics.

But Camden is also an opportunity. When a street is saturated with low-value retail, it creates space for those willing to invest in quality and identity. Offer something credible and different, and there is both cultural and commercial upside.

When the independents disappear, Camden loses more than shops. It loses its ecosystem. Camden needs to be re-recognised for its community and culture – and that’s why this campaign needs to happen.

What’s your aim with the 50 Years of Punk campaign?

My mission goes beyond nostalgia. This is about building community and a force for change. Punk emerged under economic pressure. It was collective energy when institutions were not delivering. That tension feels familiar. Costs are rising, streets are homogenising, and the system rewards scale while making independence harder to sustain.

The only real leverage Camden still has is profile. That can be used passively, or it can be used strategically. It can raise energy and investment, but it can also create space to question priorities. 

I see this campaign bringing traders, artists, venues and residents together around shared responsibility.

We cannot change national policy overnight. But we can coordinate locally. We can strengthen the ecosystem. We can use our profiles intelligently.

Fifty years ago, punk responded to economic pressure with culture. Camden can do the same. Not through sentimentality, but action.

The Art of Anarchy: 50 Years of Punk in association with the Big Issue runs at Camden Open Air Gallery 13-29 March

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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