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.
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
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Family
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.
Exhibition
The Ropery
Whitechapel Gallery
15 Jul - 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Performance
How I Grew A Moustache
Artsadmin
25 Jul, 7pm
A semi-biographical theatre piece and excavation exploring grief through the lens of intergenerational relationships.
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
Bow Open x Mile End Community Project presents ‘to belong’
Bow Arts 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
Kembra Pfahler, Hungry for Trash
Emalin – The Clerk’s House
Wed-Sat, 11am-6pm; until 26 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
Performance
Acts of Cultural Resistance
Arts One 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.
Workshop
Explore Outdoors
Victoria Park
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.
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.
Exhibition
Addressing The Void
House of Annetta
30 Jul - 19 Aug
Small canvas and sculptural works from artists of Bangladesh and the diaspora, transported by suitcase, invite viewers to bravely look into our shadow worlds.
Workshop
To Re-Cite: Ayat al-Kursi – Sound, Faith, and Collective Listening
Whitechapel Gallery
26 Jul, 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.
Walk
Jewish Museum London Walking Tour: 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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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 for a free walking tour uncovering the stories of generations of migrants who have shaped the East End.
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.
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
Fozia Ismail: A Song for the Xeedho – The Knot Makers
Whitechapel Gallery
Tue-Sun, 15 Jul - 06 Sep
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
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
Backyard Biennial Community Film Programme
Whitechapel Gallery
Tue-Sun, 12-3pm
A specially curated screening programme focusing on East London communities past and present, from Four Corners, London Community Video Archive and OITIJ-JO Collective.
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.
Workshop
Re-Boot(h): Community Mapping event showcase with local audience participation
Whitechapel Gallery
28 Aug, 3-5pm
A workshop with audience participation, reimagining the Charles Booth London poverty maps with contemporary lived experience insights and entries from local young people.
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
Patent 3306x
NıCOLETTı
Wed–Sat, 11am–6pm; until 29 Aug
Solo exhibition by Appau Junior Boakye-Yiadom. The show focuses on the practice of collecting, with a set of T-shirts that all have a painted fish printed on the front, copied from a mid-19th-century taxonomic record.
Exhibition
Material Crimes Listening Station
Whitechapel Gallery
Tue-Sun; 15 Jul - 6 Sep
Listening station and display based on Material Crimes, a podcast project dedicated to uncovering the true crimes of infrastructure.
Performance
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Performance
Nando Messias: TransMigration
Whitechapel Gallery and public realm
3-4 Sep
Nando Messias presents a new, processional performance, walking their 20-year archive of costumes, props and papers from the Bishopsgate Institute to Whitechapel.
Residency
Participation Artist in Residence: Rose Nordin
Auto Italia
until Nov
Artist Rose Nordin is collaborating with young migrants over the coming six months to co-author a new commission for Auto Italia, which will be presented in November alongside a public event series.
Exhibition
Auto Italia
Thu-Sun, 12-5pm; from 17 Jul
Auto Italia presents Sensual / Mutual, the first major institutional solo exhibition in the UK by Del LaGrace Volcano.
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.
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.
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 and programme of talks and workshops around an immigrant garden: a space of memory, exchange, and collective belonging.
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.
