• Angel Alley view towards Freedom Bookshop and Publishing showing Whitechapel Gallery logo on the back wall
  • Angel Alley view from the Freedom anarchist bookshop towards the highstreet
  • Angel Alley map - Msoma drawing

    ©Msoma Architects

Angel Alley is the former public accessway that runs from Whitechapel High St to Gunthorpe St.

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: 

  • How do we understand the social ecology of our neighbourhood and our own place within it? 
  • How can an art gallery be a better neighbour and use our resources in a positive way?
  • How can we practice healthy collaboration and dialogue in our community work?
  • How can this project and other art projects value local knowledges and bring together local people?