Exhibition
Losing a Home
House of Annetta
20-28 Jul, 12-5pm; Finissage 24 Jul 6-9pm
A solo exhibition by Paul Majek, curated by Rita Majek, exploring memory, home and belonging.
Backyard Biennial: East
Free
15 July - 6 September 2026
Backyard Biennial is a new, free summer arts festival, taking place over 8 weeks across a range of East London venues. Browse all events below, filter by date or activity type to plan your visit.
What's On
Refine by one of the following:
By Date:
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Film
OITIJ-JO Art Space Screenings
OITIJ-JO Art Space
27 Jul, 3 Aug and 24 Aug; 7pm
In collaboration with SHALA_Neighbourhood Art Space, Dhaka, TUFAN is presenting a total of twenty short films and video arts from a diverse range of artists and filmmakers from Bangladesh under two thematic sections.
Exhibition
Representing Us. Mohila Ongon Association
Greatorex
28 Jul - 1 Aug
Bangladeshi women living in Tower Hamlets present handmade community banners alongside a living social space - gardening, tea gatherings, and collective participation.
Film
Hard to Reach: Reversing the Narrative
BLOC Cinema
29 Jul, 6-7.30pm
Mile End Community Project presents an evening of short film screenings and discussion, exploring what "hard to reach" really means – and who it actually describes.
Talk
To Re-Cite: What Do We Inherit Through Sound?
Whitechapel Gallery
30 Jul, 6.30-8pm
Join artist Aliaskar Abarkas and guests for readings and conversation exploring recitation, memory, and the sounds that connect us across time.
Walk
walkwalkwalk, a night walk with Clare Qualmann and Gail Burton
Meet at Whitechapel Gallery
Thu 30 Jul, 8-10.30pm
Join a re-walking of walkwalkwalk’s nightwalk route, exploring things that have gone from the shifting cityscape between Whitechapel and Bethnal Green.
Workshop
Diasporas Now Formula
Artsadmin
1 Aug, 2-4pm
Join a collaborative performance workshop led by Diasporas Now, drawing on East Asian embodiment practices to explore diasporic identity, memory and belonging through creative exercises.
Workshop
Mark a milestone with Rezia Wahid
Whitechapel Gallery
2 Aug, 2.30-3.30pm & 3.30-4.30pm
Create your own handwoven bookmark with artist Rezia Wahid, inspired by her artistic practice and her book dancing in the womb.
Performance
Love + Care: 7 Acts x 7 days. María Abad, Alice De Crais, Ìlke Şahin, Serena Bobowski, Zoe Portela, Gesiye Souza-Okpofabri
Greatorex
3-9 Aug
In keeping with Tellus, fertile ground and all that grows from it, seven artists explore acts of love & care.
Talk
Nomenclature for the Time Being Curator’s Tour with Imani Mason Jordan
Raven Row
4 Aug, 7pm
Imani Mason Jordan, curator of 'Nomenclature for the Time Being', will present this exhibition of works in sculpture by thirteen Black women and non-binary artists.
Workshop
Create your own Neighbourhood Walking Tour, with Saira Niazi
Whitechapel Gallery
5 Aug, 4-6pm
Workshop led by renegade guide and founder of Living London, Saira Niazi, exploring neighbourhood stories to help you create your own walking tour.
Workshop
Rhythm & Rag Workshops
Oxford House
Every Thu, 10.30am-12.30pm; 30 Jul–20 Aug
Create your own recycled percussion instruments for the Material Histories Community Procession, which will take place on 5 September from Oxford House to Whitechapel Gallery.
Walk
Finding stories in Whitechapel, a walk with Morag Rose, Saira Niazi and Alisa Oleva
Meet at Whitechapel Gallery
6 Aug, 2-4pm
A meandering artist research walk. Together, we will be searching backstreets and secret corners for stories, spaces and projects that make up Whitechapel.
Special Event
Backyard Biennial Neighbourhood Party
Fredrica’s, House of Annetta, Spitalfields City Farm, and DAYTIMERS at Whitechapel Gallery
8 Aug, 11am - 11pm
A free, all-day neighbourhood party featuring a multi-disciplinary programme of live performances, workshops, installations, participatory experiences, creative experiments, and more!
Walk
The Gentle Author’s Tour of Whitechapel
Whitechapel Road
26 Jul and 9 Aug; 2-4pm
Join The Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life for a two-hour walking tour of sightseeing and storytelling along the Whitechapel Road, culminating in tea and cake at the Whitechapel Gallery.
Exhibition
Alvaro Barrington, 92-01 'In Livin Color'
Emalin – Helmet Row
Wed-Sat, 11am-6pm; until 15 Aug
Emalin is pleased to present 92-01 'In Livin Color', Alvaro Barrington's third solo exhibition with the gallery; on view until 15 August 2026.
Exhibition
Waterline. Nathan Akehurst
Greatorex
11-16 Aug
See how migration in search of better worlds shape us all. Nathan Akehurst presents his photographs and dialogue from the frontline of Mediterranean sea rescue.
Exhibition
Addressing The Void
House of Annetta
31 Ju - 19 Aug, 12-5pm
Anusha Alamgir and Fawziyah Rahman invite you to look into shadow worlds, via suitcase-sized works from artists living in Bangladesh and the diaspora.
Performance
East London Art Prize x Backyard Biennial: ‘Sand Suit 4.0’ with Lydia Newman
Whitechapel Gallery
13 Aug, 7pm
Lydia Newman presents a live participatory performance, Sand Suit 4.0 (2026), an embodied storytelling work developed in dialogue with the workshops and her ongoing series In the Wake of Ruin.
Walk
East London Art Prize x Backyard Biennial: walking tour exploring art & architecture at Whitechapel with Kuda Mushangi
Meet at Whitechapel Gallery
15 Aug, 11am-1pm
A walking tour to explore how art has been woven into the history and architecture of Whitechapel and East London
Talk
Listening to the Xeedho Archive
Whitechapel Gallery
15 Aug, 2-3pm
Discover the sounds and stories that have shaped A Song for the Xeedho in this listening session and conversation with researcher Ibrahim Hirsi and artist-producer Heather Marks.
Workshop
Make a yarn winding artwork with Anisah Yaminah
Whitechapel Gallery
15 Aug, 2.30-4.30pm
Join textile designer Anisah Yaminah for a hands-on yarn winding workshop exploring ideas around migration, memory and nostalgia through textile and craft.
Talk
A Song for the Xeedho: Climate, Censorship and East African Futures
Whitechapel Gallery
15 Aug, 4-5pm
Join Layla Mahmood, East Africa Correspondent for The Observer, for a conversation on climate, censorship and environmental change in East Africa.
Music
Bengal to Bethnal Green
Theatre at Toynbee Studios
15 Aug, 6-9pm
Directed by renowned tabla player Yousuf Ali Khan, this special evening explores the music and culture of Bangladesh through traditional songs, ragas and contemporary interpretations. Dinner option available with Bengali food by Oitij-jo Kitchen.
Workshop
To Re-Cite: Ayat al-Kursi – Sound, Faith, and Collective Listening
Whitechapel Gallery
16 Aug; 11am-1pm on
Join a workshop as part of a new commissioned project with artist Aliaskar Abarkas, exploring sound, music, and listening through faith and collective experience.
Performance
A Bead for Remembering
Whitechapel Gallery
22 Aug, 12-1.30pm
Join artist Jannat Hussain for a participatory performance exploring memory, materiality, and collective remembrance through her sculpture Our Hands, Our Eyes (2026).
Late
A Song for the Xeedho: LATE
Whitechapel Gallery
20 Aug, 6.30-9pm
A late event exploring diasporic memory, anticolonial practice and counter-archiving through A Song for the Xeedho, with artist conversations, DJs and food.
Exhibition
Whitechapel 2026. The Great Imagining
Greatorex
18-24 Aug
The Great Imagining Whitechapel will be an interactive exhibition with a programme of talks, workshops and films exploring a greener, fairer, wiser future.
Exhibition
Bow Open x Mile End Community Project presents ‘to belong’
Nunnery Gallery
10am-4pm; until 30 Aug
The Nunnery Gallery’s annual Bow Open exhibition features 25 Bow Arts artists, selected by local young curators around the theme of belonging.
Exhibition
Haegendorf 2100 Aldgate Edition
Toynbee Hall
24 Aug - 06 Sep; 8-11pm
250 pupils in a Swiss village reimagine the future of their home. What could East London dream up? A video-installation by Yannick Portmann.
Workshop
Culture meets Creativity with Trapped in Zone One
Whitechapel Gallery
18 Jul and 29 Aug, 1-3pm
Join Trapped in Zone One for a group based creative activity, exploring Bengali cultural heritage with the creation of a large scale ‘Alpona’ artwork.
Exhibition
The Ropery
Whitechapel Gallery
Tue-Sun; until 30 Aug
This participatory exhibition explores East London's rope-making history. Drop in to try rope, string, braiding and knot-tying, contributing to a growing installation, alongside a specially created film.
Performance
Imagining Animals | Tower of London
Tower of London
19–31 Aug (excluding 25 Aug); 11am-4pm
Visit the Tower of London from to experience Imagining Animals, a new commission by Historic Royal Palaces inspired by animals across the world.
Exhibition
Material Histories
Oxford House
Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm; until 2 Sep
Explore the East End’s textile heritage through five hand-crafted banners created in collaboration with local artists and communities.
Workshop
Imagine the Future of East London
Whitechapel Gallery
27 Aug, 6-8.30pm
Swiss artist Yannick Portmann invites you to a creative workshop, imagining possible futures for our city. Open to all, wacky ideas welcome!
Performance
The Bigger Picture by Puer Deorum
Whitechapel Gallery
27 Aug, 7-7.30pm
Through skips, jumps and loops, Puer Deorum breathes life through the pages of OITIJ-JO Collective’s Community Library of South Asian books.
Workshop
Re-Boot(h)
Whitechapel Gallery
28 Aug, 3-5pm
A workshop reimagining the Charles Booth London poverty maps with contemporary lived experience insights and entries from local young people.
Performance
Broderick Chow: How to Build a Body
Whitechapel Gallery
1 Sep, 6.30pm
A performance-lecture about muscles and men, exploring building a body as a site to work through disappearing certainties about work, gender, and the roles we think we’re meant to play.
Workshop
Demolition Project
Whitechapel Gallery
2 Sep, 11am - 6pm
The Demolition Project (A-Z) involves a giant map of the city and an invitation to participants to demolish buildings, streets or entire areas.
Talk
Conviviality as Resistance
Whitechapel Gallery
2 Sep, 2-6pm
An afternoon of conversation, reflection and radio about walking, by collective of artists, researchers and creative practitioners. Participation is welcome!
Performance
Acts of Cultural Resistance
ArtsOne Building, Queen Mary University of the Arts
Wed 2 Sep, 6-9pm
Join us for an evening of playful experiment and serious engagement revealing how artists explore the world through acts of cultural resistance.
Talk
Artists in Dialogue: Tilla Crowne and Rachel Garfield
Bevis Marks Synagogue
3 Sep
Two East London artists reflect on Jewish heritage, identity and belonging, exploring how history, memory and place shape their artistic practices.
Exhibition
Reframing the East End
Oxford House
Mon-Fri, 10am - 6pm
A photography exhibition exploring fresh perspectives on the East End through archival research and street photography.
Exhibition
Altruism, devices for the yet to come. Alexis Bamforth
Greatorex
from 27 Aug
Installations and artworks as tools to develop care, resilience & imagination, using interconnected ecology as a model for society.
Performance
Material Histories: A Procession
from Oxford House to Whitechapel Gallery
5 Sep
A procession of large-scale textile banners made collaboratively by local groups and five contemporary artists, travelling from Oxford House to Whitechapel Gallery, through the neighbourhoods that inspired them.
Special Event
Chisenhale Arts and Community Street Party
Chisenhale Road
5 Sep, 1-7pm
The Chisenhale Arts and Community Street Party is an annual celebration of creativity, culture, and community in Bow. It brings together residents from across Tower Hamlets through a diverse programme of free activities and live performances.
Walk
Remembering St. Clement's Hospital: Memorialising and counter-memorialising inpatient mental health care in the East End
Former St. Clement's Hospital
5 Sep, 2-4pm
Celebrating/commiserating/commemorating the 20th anniversary of the St. Clement's psychiatric hospital closure. A walk and artistic intervention around the site.
Talk
Enslavement, Resistance, and the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London
Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives
5 Sep, 2-3.30pm
Join us to explore a lesser-known history of the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London as part of the Communities of Liberation events programme and Imagining Animals, a new commission by Historic Royal Palaces.
Exhibition
Patent 3306x
NıCOLETTı
Thu-Sat, 11am-6pm; until 5 Sep
Nicoletti presents the first solo exhibition at the gallery by the London-based British artist Appau Junior Boakye-Yiadom.
Special Event
Imagining Animals
Whitechapel Gallery
6 Sep, 11am - 4pm
Enjoy a day of puppetry, movement, music, performances, drop-in workshop for all, poetry and conversation celebrating animals. Keep a look out!
Exhibition
East of the Aldgate Pump
Whitechapel Gallery
Tue-Sun, 15 Jul - 06 Sep
Group exhibition with 12 local, national and international artists responding to the rich and distinctive historic, cultural and creative identity of East London.
Exhibition
Fozia Ismail: A Song for the Xeedho – The Knot Makers
Whitechapel Gallery
Tue-Sun, 15 Jul - 06 Sep
'A Song for the Xeedho' (Hey-ro) is a new interactive installation that centres the Xeedho, a wedding basket made by Somali nomadic women which has become endangered due to the climate crisis.
Exhibition
All Our Stories: The Migration Museum at Whitechapel Gallery
Whitechapel Gallery
Tue-Sun, 15 Jul - 06 Sep
Have a migration story to share? Drop by the Common Room at Whitechapel Gallery to add yours to the Migration Museum’s growing collection.
Exhibition
OITIJ-JO Collective: TUFAN
Whitechapel Gallery
Tue-Sun, 15 Jul - 06 Sep
OITIJ-JO Collective presents TUFAN, an evolving exhibition and live programme exploring transformation and renewal.
Film
East End Voices Film Programme
Whitechapel Gallery
Tue-Sun, 12-3pm; 15 Jul - 6 Sep
A specially curated screening programme focusing on East London communities past and present, from Four Corners, London Community Video Archive and OITIJ-JO Collective.
Film
John Smith Film Programme
Whitechapel Gallery
Tue-Sun, 4pm + Thu 7pm; 15 Jul - 6 Sep
As part of Backyard Biennial, a specially curated selection of films from the last five decades by pioneering and influential artist John Smith will be screened each day.
Exhibition
Material Crimes Listening Station
Whitechapel Gallery
Tue-Sun; 15 Jul - 6 Sep
Material Crimes is a podcast project dedicated to uncovering the true crimes of infrastructure. This installation is a listening station, based on collage-work, stories and sounds from across the series.
Workshop
Explore Outdoors
Victoria Park/St Margaret’s House
until Sep
Explore Outdoors returns to St Margaret’s House! Take part in a variety of free Arts & Wellbeing workshops in Victoria Park this summer.
Exhibition
Nomenclature for the Time Being
Raven Row
Wed-Sun, 11am-6pm; until 6 Sep
'Nomenclature…' is most of all a show of sculpture, including work by 13 artists from different generations, curated by Imani Mason Jordan.
Late
Alba Thursday Lates
Alba X Whitechapel Gallery
Every Thu, 5-9pm
Late opening for natural wine, spritzes, homemade soft drinks and variety of different pop up chefs from East London and beyond.
Exhibition
Our George Crompton, WORLDS and WINDOWS by Gilbert & George
The Gilbert & George Centre
Thu-Sun, 11am-5.45pm
A tribute to the artists’ dear friend. Enjoy the show at your own pace, or join us for our tour on Saturdays at 4pm!
Exhibition
No Place Like Home III
SLQS Gallery
Thu-Sat, 12-6pm; until 19 Sep
Six artists from the Vietnamese diaspora invite East London communities into an immigrant garden: a space of memory, exchange, and collective belonging.
Exhibition
Sensual / Mutual
Auto Italia
Thu-Sun, 12-5pm; PV 16 Jul, 6-8pm
Auto Italia presents Sensual / Mutual, the first major institutional solo exhibition in the UK by Del LaGrace Volcano.
Residency
Participation Artist-in-Residence: Rose Nordin
Auto Italia
until Nov
Artist Rose Nordin is collaborating with young migrants over six months to co-author a new commission for Auto Italia, which will be presented in November alongside a public event series.
Walk
Radicals to Revolutionaries – People Power in Whitechapel
Meet at Whitechapel Gallery
16 Jul, 2-4pm
Popular guide Rachel Kolsky leads a Whitechapel walk exploring Jewish East End history, tracing sites of work, worship and everyday life.
Workshop
Shared Histories: Jewish Objects and Stories
Whitechapel Gallery
16 Jul, 5-8pm
We’d love to see your objects, photographs and mementos connected to London’s Jewish East End. Discuss with curators from Whitechapel Gallery and Jewish Museum London.
Walk
Finding Home by Walking, a walk with Alisa Oleva
Meet at Whitechapel Gallery
16 Jul, 6-8pm
This walk explores walking as a way of home-finding and how we carry those multiple homes with us as we walk the streets.
Talk
Fozia Ismail in Conversation
Whitechapel Gallery
16 Jul, 7-8pm
A conversation with artist Fozia Ismail on the themes behind A Song for the Xeedho - the Knot Makers.
Talk
Material Histories Symposium
Oxford House
17 Jul, 10am-4pm
The Material Histories symposium at Oxford House offers a day of artist talks and slow making, exploring East End and regional textile histories.
Walk
Whose Streets? Our Streets: A Migration Walking Tour of the East End
Meet at Whitechapel Gallery
18 Jul, 12-1pm
Join the Migration Museum team for a East End walking tour and journey with through the streets of Whitechapel and the East End to discover the lives of people who shaped the area.
Workshop
Wearing Our Stories: Stitching Identity Through Football
Whitechapel Gallery
18 Jul, 2-3.30pm
Book your free spot with embroidery artist Nicole Chui and the Migration Museum – and stitch personal journeys of migration onto football shirts.
Open Studios
Acme Robinson Road Open Studios and Archive Exhibition
Acme Robinson Road
17 Jul, 6-9pm; 18-19 Jul, 12-5pm
Step inside Acme’s Robinson Road, a former mid-19th century brush factory now home to around 70 artists, for open studios and archival exhibition.
Talk
No Place Like Home III: public programme
SLQS Gallery
18 Jul, 11am-1pm; 19 Jul, 2-6pm
Six artists from the Vietnamese diaspora invite you to their exhibition, talks and workshops around an immigrant garden: a space of memory, exchange, and collective belonging.
Late
Somali Museum UK: Somalinimo
Whitechapel Gallery
18 Jul, 6-10pm
Join Somali Museum UK for an evening of performative lectures, conversations and music, exploring what "Somalinimo" means as an artist, and envisioning what a contemporary Somali museum could look like.
Exhibition
Bumper. Louise Ashcroft
Greatorex
15-21 Jul
Louise Ashcroft makes resourceful works in conversation with Whitechapel’s markets and small businesses. Surplus stuff and specialist knowledge become strategies for sculptural storytelling.
Performance
The Bench Project in Angel Alley, with Morag Rose
Angel Alley
15 Jul and 21 July, 11.30am-5.30pm
A day in the life of street furniture, or How to Explore the City Whilst Sitting Still. All welcome to sit, dream and loiter.
Film
East End Voices: Community, Activism and Identity
Whitechapel Gallery
22 Jul, 12-5pm
Join Four Corners, London Community Video Archive and Oitij-Jo Collective for an afternoon of screenings and discussion.
Walk
The Feminist Art of Walking in Whitechapel, with Morag Rose
Meet at Whitechapel Gallery
22 Jul, 2-4pm
The Feminist Art of Walking celebrates women transforming walking into works of art and activism, whilst sharing a manifesto for more equitable streets
Walk
City within a city: traces and layer. Walk with Manal Massalha and Clare Qualmann
Meet at Whitechapel Gallery
23 Jul, 4-6pm
A walk inviting observation, reflection and sharing. Bring an open eye, a camera, smartphone or pro, a pencil and a piece of paper.
Music
Swaraj Returns
93 Feet East
Fri 24 Jul, 7pm-1.30am
Swaraj, the iconic Asian Underground clubnight, returns with its signature blend of cutting-edge DJ sets, electrifying live performances and stunning, immersive visuals.
Workshop
Soanes Centre Curriculum 2026: Digging
Soanes Centre
Sat 25 Jul, 11am-4pm
Join our one-day slow festival at Soanes Centre for public workshops: clay-making, visioning and collaborating with local practitioners to celebrate a new installation onsite.
Walk
Walking Scores for Mile End Park
Mile End Park
25 Jul, 1-4pm; drop in
Join artist Clare Qualmann to creatively explore the unique environment of Mile End Park through the fun and poetic prompts of walking scores. All ages welcome, suitable for families, drop in or join for the full afternoon.
Exhibition
Kembra Pfahler, Hungry for Trash
Emalin – the Clerk's House
Wed-Sat, 11am–6pm; until 25 Jul
Emalin is pleased to present Hungry for Trash, a solo exhibition of new works by American artist Kembra Pfahler, the artist's fourth at the gallery and her first at the Clerk's House.
Exhibition
Ultrasound
Public Gallery
Wed-Sat, 11am-6pm; until 25 Jul
A group exhibition of works by Alessandra Acierno, Ma Lingli, Roland Knowlden, Minami Kobayashi, India Sachi, Yi To, Idris Young.
Exhibition
Fault lines
Public Gallery
Wed-Sat, 11am-6pm; until 25 Jul
A duo exhibition of painting and sculpture by artists Gabriel Mills and Hannah Morgan.
Workshop
Meditations in Clay. George Stuart
Greatorex
23-26 Jul
A community-based workshop using mediation, touch, clay and sound to move from individual presence into collective creation and back again.
Workshop
East London Art Prize x Backyard Biennial: participatory workshops ‘Tangle/Untangle’ with Lydia Newman
Whitechapel Gallery
25 Jul, 1.30-4.30pm; 26 Jul, 2-4pm
Two participatory workshops, using sand-filled tights to create collective entanglement, exploring how bodies carry, share, and negotiate inherited and socially learned pressures.
Workshop
Weaving a mini tapestry with Rukia Begum
Whitechapel Gallery
25 Jul, 2.30-4.30pm
Join British-Bangladeshi textile artist Rukia Begum for a hands-on weaving workshop, using yarns and reclaimed fabric strips.
Workshop
Disrupt! Reflect! Reconnect: On the role of photography and art in shifting narratives and prioritising hope in divisive, binary times
Whitechapel Gallery
25 Jul, 4.30-6pm
A reflective discussion-based workshop led by Dr Manal Massalha exploring the role of photography in shifting narratives, challenges assumptions, and prioritising hope over division.
Performance
How I Grew A Moustache
Artsadmin
25 Jul, 7pm
A semi-biographical theatre piece exploring grief through the lens of intergenerational relationships.
