The best exhibitions in East London to visit this autumn
Known for its eclectic mix of local heritage and the avant-garde, east London’s art galleries explore everything from East End revolutions, occult art and island hopping this autumn.
Now that the trees in Vicky Park are shivering, there’s no better time to get inside and look at some art. This autumn local galleries across east London are showing everything from archival photography of the East End to modern sculpture and never-before-displayed ‘magickal’ art.
We’ve selected some of the best exhibitions with long runs into Christmas and the New Year. But many smaller venues are putting on exhibitions with shorter runs that are well worth seeking out. Check out Poplar Union on Bartlett Park, Gallery Cafe on Old Ford Road, The Yurt in Limehouse, and the Brady Centre in Whitechapel, all of which have a roster of fascinating, community-driven exhibitions.
Read on to find out our top recommendations for exhibitions you can catch throughout autumn and into winter and the New Year.
David Hoffman’s Endurance & Joy in the East End at the Museum of the Home
15 OCTOBER 2024 TO 30 MARCH 2025
Bow photojournalist David Hoffman has spent more than 40 years photographing the streets of London and the East End, with a focus on protest and oppression. Famously he photographed the Brixton riots as well as the protests following the murder of Altab Ali. ‘Endurance & Joy in the East End’ pays homage to Hoffman’s impressive body of work.
This exhibit is a special one as it was curated by Spitalfield’s well-loved anonymous scribe, The Gentle Author. Hoffman and the Gentle Author successfully crowd-funded just under £11,000 to put this exhibit on at the Museum of the Home in Hoxton.
Museum of the Home, 136 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8EA. For more information visit Britishphotohistory.ning.com
In the footsteps of the East London Group at the Nunnery Gallery
4 OCTOBER TO 22 DECEMBER 2024
The East London Group were a mostly working-class artists group who painted east London in the late 1920s and early 1930s. They painted realist depictions of the streets of East London, creating a time capsule.
For this exhibit by Bow Arts, twenty-two modern artists were invited to trace the footsteps of the East London Group. They’ve made new work that responds both to the echoes of the past and the group’s original ethos. The exhibit will show work from the original East London Group and the modern cohort.
Find Nunnery Gallery at 181 Bow Rd, Bow, London E3 2SJ. For more info visit Bowarts.org/nunnery-gallery
Romance in the Mundane at HOKO Cafe
20 SEPTEMBER – 29 SEPTEMBER 2024
‘Romance in the Mundane,’ is a collection of love letters to Cantopop – a pop genre sung in Cantonese. Cantopop was at its height in the 70s and 80s and is especially associated with (and beloved by) those from Hong Kong.
The exhibition features love letters to Cantopop music sandwiched into the tops of the cafe tables, with English translations. There are also archival materials on the Cantopop era’s cultural significance to peruse and, of course, the music itself. Please note – because the exhibit is spread throughout the cafe tables, it’s a coin toss which letters you will see.
‘Romance in the Mundane’ is being hosted by HOKO, a Hong Kong cafe on Brick Lane. You need to buy something at the cafe to see this exhibit, but each visitor will get a free ‘baseball card’ of a Cantopop icon. Plus, the combination of nostalgia and HOKO’s signature silky traditional milk tea is truly sweet.
Find HOKO cafe at 224 Brick Ln, London E1 6SA. For more information visit HOKO’s Instagram @hoko.london
History House 140 exhibition at Oxford House
UNTIL 14 OCTOBER 2024
For Oxford House’s 140-year-old birthday, check out their new ‘History House 140’ exhibit. It illuminates 140 years of social change in the East End, from air-raid shelters to working-class activism and beyond.
Oxford House was founded in 1884 as a ‘settlement’ house for Oxford graduates volunteering in East London. Today it’s a community centre, hosting social organisations from around the East End.
The interactive exhibition will feature unseen archive material, new short films, and stories from the East End. It’s running until the 15th of October, 2024 at Oxford House in Bethnal Green.
Find Oxford House at Derbyshire St, Bethnal Green, London E2 6HG
Cockney Rebels: The musical legacy of Tower Hamlets
UNTIL FEBRUARY 2025
The exhibition Cockney Rebels by the Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives spans centuries to tell a story of popular music in our borough.
The exhibit ‘Cockney Rebels,’ is a showcase of popular music spanning the past four hundred years of music in Tower Hamlets from big names like Dizzee Rascal to relative unknowns like the Stepney Sisters. Cockney Rebels is free and open for the public to visit until February 2025.
Find Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives at 277 Bancroft Rd, Bethnal Green, London E1 4DQ. For more information visit towerhamlets.gov.uk
Archipelago: Visions in Orbit at Whitechapel Gallery
UNTIL JANUARY 2025
An archipelago is a cluster of distinct but connected islands, used for this exhibition as a concept with which to link a wide diversity of perspectives and artistic practices.
The artists showing in ‘Archipelago’ are from across the globe and their mediums include photography, paint, and sculpture. At first glance the works are completely different, but the exhibition is delicately connected with a common ‘archipelagic’ thread.
‘Archipelago’ is showing at Whitechapel Gallery until January 2025 and entry is free.
Find Whitechapel Gallery at 77-82 Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX. For more information visit whitechapelgallery.org
Queer Family at Rich Mix
14 TO 22 SEPTEMBER 2024
‘Queer Family’ is part of Fringe!, a queer film and arts festival hosted in east London this autumn.
The gallery portraits are crowd-sourced from the community surrounding the festival. Each piece answers the question ‘What does your family look like?’ ignoring convention to give an honest answer.
‘Queer Family,’ is on view for free in the foyer of Rich Mix in Bethnal Green from the 14th-22nd of September.
Find Rich Mix at 35-47 Bethnal Grn Rd, London E1 6LA. For more information visit fringefilmfest.com
Four Witches & a Warlock at The Last Tuesday Society
1 OCTOBER 2024 TO 9 MARCH 2025
‘Four Witches & a Warlock’ is an exhibit of work from four ‘magickal’ artists with cult (and occult) followings, including Ithell Colquhoun and Leonora Carrington. Pieces range from relaxing landscape paintings to terrifying pencil portraits.
Until now, the works have never been displayed. They will be on show at The Last Tuesday Society, a combined absinthe bar and depraved museum space in Hackney.
Find the Last Tuesday Society at 11 Mare St, London E8 4RP. For more information visit thelasttuesdaysociety.org
Hyper Market at The Art House Pritchard’s Road
12 TO 20 OCTOBER
‘Hyper Market,’ ambitiously investigates the meaning of value in the modern day. The exhibition asks what changes in production and consumption mean for our cultural landscape through super-modern sculptural and painted work.
‘Hyper Market’ will be showing The Art House, a combined studio, gallery and curator space on Pritchard’s Road near Broadway Market.
Find the Art House at 30-36 Pritchard’s Rd E29AP For more information visit @thearthouselive on Instagram.
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