Image: Whitechapel Gallery, London
Whitechapel Gallery will present ‘East of the Aldgate Pump’, a group exhibition examining the historic, cultural and creative identity of East London through painting, sculpture, photography, film and installation. The exhibition runs from 15 July to 6 September 2026 across the gallery’s three main exhibition spaces, Galleries 1, 2 and 3, with free entry.
The title refers to the historic Aldgate Pump, which for hundreds of years marked an informal boundary between the City of London and the East End. Whitechapel Gallery describes the phrase as evoking movement across social, cultural and geographic borders, as well as the crossings, encounters and communities that have shaped East London. The exhibition also connects that history to the gallery’s position as a local institution with international artistic and cultural links.
The presentation is organised in three sections. Its opening grouping explores migratory stories and journeys, using patchwork as both a material process—stitching, splicing, collaging and layering—and a conceptual framework for uncovering fragmented or concealed histories. A second section considers city life and kinship, focusing on the ways closeness and connection can produce communal and private spaces of refuge, resistance, observation and memory.
The final section centres on food, considering its relationships with heritage, tradition, migration and belonging, as well as the communities formed through seasonal food production. Together, the sections address movement, identity and collective experience through distinct but connected forms of artistic practice.
The gallery’s participating-artist list includes Marwan Bassiouni, Jyll Bradley, Adam Farah-Saad in collaboration with Ezra Lloyd Jackson, Denzil Forrester, Rachel Garfield, Kabir Hussain, Laisul Hoque, Nour Jaouda, Rene Matić, susan pui san lok, Reetu Sattar and Rehana Zaman. The exhibition description identifies the presentation as bringing together 12 local, national and international artists; the published list separately names the Farah-Saad and Jackson collaboration.
The artists’ practices span photography, painting, film, sculpture, sound, performance and installation. Bassiouni’s photography examines Islamic identity and contemporary Western society through questions of visibility, faith and belonging, while Forrester’s expressive paintings draw on London’s reggae, dub and sound-system culture. Bradley works across installation, photography, sculpture, film and performance, exploring light, community, identity and queer experience. Other practices in the exhibition address personal and familial histories, diaspora, archives, prayer-mat forms, queer visibility, care and collective resistance.
‘East of the Aldgate Pump’ forms part of Backyard Biennial: East, a new free summer arts festival taking place from 15 July to 6 September across a range of venues in East London. Whitechapel Gallery’s wider programme includes exhibitions, screenings, installations, workshops, talks, performances and walks, while the gallery lists the festival as extending across more than 40 venues. At Whitechapel, related presentations include OITIJ-JO Collective’s ‘TUFAN’, Fozia Ismail’s interactive installation ‘A Song for the Xeedho – The Knot Makers’, and the film programmes ‘East End Voices’ and ‘John Smith Film Programme’. ‘East of the Aldgate Pump’ remains on view at Whitechapel Gallery through 6 September 2026.
