Life is More Important than Art at Whitechapel Gallery

This summer Whitechapel Gallery presents Life is More Important than Art, a three-month-long exhibition and events programme exploring themes of migration and differences in the East End.

Life is More Important than Art showcases a multitude of artists, performers and thinkers. Artists include Susan Hiller, Janette Parris and Matthew Krishanu; the art on display encompasses painting, film, photography and installation. Here, past and present histories are interwoven and personal stories are entangled with global events.

Notable works include graphics from Parris’ forthcoming book This is Not a Memoir which map locations of personal significance across East London; Krishanu’s series of paintings charting a woman’s life through marriage, childhood, motherhood and dying; and Osman Yousefzada’s installation of a Pakistani mother’s bedroom.

The exhibition is accompanied by a programme of talks, performances and events. Whitechapel Radio Studio will feature artist interviews and takeovers by local music venues including Dalston Superstore; the auditorium will host the brand-new Artist’s Film International (AFI) programme, presenting a series of moving image works on the theme of diaspora, including a piece by multidisciplinary conceptual artist R.I.P. Germain.