Thu 1 Oct, 6.30-8pm
Assembly Room
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | 11am–6pm |
| Wednesday | 11am–6pm |
| Thursday | 11am–9pm |
| Friday | 11am–6pm |
| Saturday | 11am–6pm |
| Sunday | 11am–6pm |
Access requirements
The Whitechapel Gallery is committed to making all of our events as accessible as possible for every audience member. Please contact access@whitechapelgallery.org if you would like to discuss a particular request and we will gladly discuss with you the best way to accommodate it.
Information about access on site at the gallery is available here.
This includes information about Lift access; Borrowing wheelchairs & seating; Assistance Animals; Parking; Toilets and baby care facilities; Blind & Partially Sighted Visitors; Subtitles and transcripts; British Sign Language (BSL) and hearing induction loops; Deaf Messaging Service (DMS).
Curated by UP Projects and commissioned by Tower Hamlets Council, A Love Song for Whitechapel is a new public realm project by artist Aya Haidar.
The project has been developed through a participatory process involving pupils from Swanlea School and members of the Bow Geezers, a group of elders based in East London.
The final artwork will be projected onto a wall near Whitechapel Market in October 2026. It explores collective memories and impressions of Whitechapel through a series of rhyming couplets that form the chorus of a specially composed ‘Love Song for Whitechapel’ inspired by engagement with local people.
To launch the work, Haidar will be in conversation with Richard Martin, Director of Participation at Whitechapel Gallery, to explore the rich stories that have surfaced through the project followed by a special live performance of ‘A Love Song for Whitechapel’ by Tom Carradine.
There will also be contributions from Emma Underhill, Founder and Chief Executive, UP Projects, as well as local project partners and community participants.
Free refreshments will be available for all attendees from 18.00 and after the discussion ends at 19.45.
At 20.15, Aya Haidar will lead a walk to Whitechapel Market to see her artwork projected.
In partnership with UP Projects.
International solo and group exhibitions include The Whitworth (Manchester), Kettle’s Yard (Cambridge), Cromwell Place (London), Cubitt (London), Art Berlin Contemporary (Germany), Athr Gallery (Jeddah), Bischoff Weiss (London), New Art Exchange (Nottingham), Jeddah 21,39 (KSA), Mosaic Rooms (London), Casa Arabe (Madrid), Beirut Art Week (Beirut), FIAC (Paris), Frieze Art Fair (London), Art Dubai (UAE), Abu Dhabi Art (UAE), Art Istanbul (Turkey).
Aya has been involved in numerous social engagement projects, including Kettle’s Yard, PEER, The Camden Arts Center, Shubbak Festival, Mosaic Rooms’ Together Apart: Lockdown Diaries, INIVA’s A Place for Conversation, V&A’s Stitching Borders and Record, Resist, Reframe, Tate’s Illuminating Cultures program and INIVA’s Emotional Learning Cards, as well as being selected for Hans Ulrich Obrist and Hoor Al Qasemi’s Do It Arab project (2016).
UP Projects is the UK’s leading public art organisation specialising in socially engaged public art commissioning. We bring world class artists out of the gallery and into public spaces to create new work with communities across the UK and beyond. Our work is always responsive to context often activating unexpected corners of the public realm.
Flagship projects include Newham Trackside Wall by Sonia Boyce OBE RA (2021); The National Windrush Monument by Basil Watson (2022); Gut Feelings Meri Jaan by Jasleen Kaur (2020); Globe Head Ballerina by Yinka Shonibare (2012), The Floatng Cinema with various artists (2011-2017) and Laid to Rest by Serena Korda (2011).
