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It includes a courtyard area that sits between Whitechapel Gallery and Freedom Bookshop. The alley is no longer a throughway after the addition of a gate at one end and is now a public space where eight local stakeholders have specific rights of access.
Angel Alley represents a microcosm of the pressures facing many people in London: in particular, the ongoing displacement of communities, and a lack of access to affordable housing, healthcare and support services.
Since 2021, Whitechapel Gallery has worked with a range of local partners and stakeholders to better understand Angel Alley, with generous support from Tower Hamlets Council. The Alley is a complex site, filled with contradictions and contested narratives. Not everyone who lives and works around the Alley always agrees with one another, but our common ground is that we care about the Alley, we want to keep talking about the Alley, and we want to ensure its future as a safe, healthy and accessible public space for everyone.
For Whitechapel Gallery, the Angel Alley project presents a number of questions: