Past Event
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 https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/visit/access/
– 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).
Since September 2023 Duchamp and Sons, Whitechapel Gallery’s Youth Collective, has been collaborating with Kneed, Ishwari Bhalerao and Leonie Rousham, to imagine the future of ‘the library’, drawing upon the radical history of Whitechapel Library that once stood on this site.
Following months of conversation, walks, banner-making, and experimentation rooted in play and storytelling, the group now present their collective imaginations of Our Future Libraries.
As we move towards an ever more dystopian future with increasing state surveillance, the ongoing climate crisis, the abundance of propaganda, and the lack of time or space for play, care and conversation, we ask: what is the role of libraries? What systems of knowledge exchange do we need? What spaces do they occupy, what do they look, feel and sound like? What stories do they hold?
In this takeover of Whitechapel Gallery’s foyer space, we invite you to join us to build upon the collections in our future libraries. Share your ideas for resistance, have a cup of tea and conversations, exchange stories and learnings from your childhood, or maybe even offer us your soul…
See behind the scenes of the build up to the event @duchampandsons
Duchamp & Sons is a collective of 15-24 year olds from across London who meet regularly to experiment with art, curate exhibitions and events, and share space for food and conversation.
This event has been collaboratively curated by Alisha, Amir, Amy, Anya, Audrey, Camila, Constança, Elizabeth, Elliot, Faith, Freya, Jessica, Joshua, Mia, Ruth, San, Shannay, Shree, and Zee.
Kneed is a collaborative practice formed by artists Ishwari Bhalerao (b. Nagpur) and Leonie Rousham (b. London). We are interested in building systems of care, support and resistance where external pressures are causing these to be exhausted or lacking. In a time when the government is treating the old, sick, disabled, and working class people as disposable, it is more important than ever to collaborate, listen, learn and remember, from conversation and friendship. Thus, our workshops and studio practice focus on collectivising experiences, memories and stories around labour, time and care mobilised as tools to resist systems of oppression, exhaustion and isolation.
Kneed also exists as a walking practice, using moving image, text, textiles, performance and print processes to explore the violent histories, collective memory and political resonance of British landscapes and language.
