Free entry
15 July - 30 August 2026
Assembly Room
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | 11am–6pm |
| Wednesday | 11am–6pm |
| Thursday | 11am–9pm |
| Friday | 11am–6pm |
| Saturday | 11am–6pm |
| Sunday | 11am–6pm |
Please check the drop-down on the right for planned closures
About This Exhibition
This exhibition takes place in the Assembly Room space at Whitechapel Gallery, located on the ground floor.
This exhibition is free entry and drop in, with no booking required
The Ropery takes inspiration from the unique histories of rope making in east London to create a participatory exhibition exploring the material processes of this fundamental but endangered craft.
We invite gallery visitors of all ages to engage in hands-on rope making, spinning, twisting and knot tying.
The exhibition aims to showcase the innovation and creativity of this vital craft, whilst acknowledging the tangled histories of global trade, industrial heritage and the lives of thousands involved in an industry in east London that spanned over 200 years up until the mid 1900s.
Whilst the physical infrastructure of the industry has long been replaced by housing, the local street names, including Cable Street and Twine Court in Shadwell or Ropery Street in Mile End, are left to hold the legacies.
As our contemporary lives move us ever further from a material understanding of the world, The Ropery asks us to reengage in modes of embodied learning. Co-created with designer Sanne Visser we invite you to turn your hand to making rope from repurposed materials and learn the fundamentals of knot tying. Discover Sanne’s crafted objects throughout, where rope is applied as functional and decorative using hyperlocal materials. A specially created film by Samara Addai evokes the poetry of these processes and explores the trace legacies of these crafts in east London.
The Ropery is designed to be a vibrant space for communities to connect through making, to share local histories and to interrogate notions of regenerative practice, circular design and the social contexts of crafting.
This exhibition is part of Backyard Biennial.
Please note children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Sanne Visser is a Dutch designer and researcher based in London. Her studio takes a systemic approach to material innovation and future thinking. Specialising in regenerative design and sustainable solutions, her work aims to uncover the complexities between social, ecological and technical domains.
Sanne is internationally recognised for her groundbreaking work with human hair as a material resource, developing yarns, ropes, textiles, composites and open-source tools, often through interdisciplinary collaborations. She uses ancient techniques like spinning and ropemaking to turn this abundant material into high-quality objects such as bags, swings, and mirrors. Her participatory and community-led approach to material design has been central to her practice for over a decade. Since graduating from the MA Material Futures at Central Saint Martins in 2016, she has collaborated with leading institutions and brands including the Design Museum, Science Gallery, TextielMuseum, Nike, Horniman Museum, British Council, V&A and Newham Council.
Alongside her practice, Sanne is a Researcher and Associate Lecturer at the University of the Arts London, where she recently submitted her PhD in Systemic Material Innovation. Since 2025, Sanne leads HairCycle, a community-led initiative in the London Borough of Newham that turns human hair into innovative materials with local communities. In 2022, she was named one of UKRI’s ‘101 Jobs to Save the World’.
Samara is a videographer with credits in directing, writing and editing. The spine of Samara’s experience has been flourished with artists such as Boadi, Davina Oriakhi and Marco Caricola. She continues to plan future music videos amongst the RnB, jazz soul scene and on to directing her own short films. Samara has also composed corporate projects with names such as Design My Night, BYP Network, Camden Events and MBTN.
Within the film & tv industry, Samara is freelancing as a camera assistant in hopes of achieving her dreams as a cinematographer and director within the indie film scene. Her style is a marriage of hard hitting realist stories, adopted by surrealist imagery.
For other Backyard Biennial events to take place The Ropery will be closed on the following dates:
Please note this list may be updated during the run of the exhibition with additional closures. We recommend checking on the day of your visit to avoid disappointment.
Backyard Biennial has been generously supported by:
Aldgate Connect BID
