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Current exhibition

Cockney Rebels: Popular Music in Tower Hamlets, 1624-2003

20 June 2024 – 21 February, 2025

From ‘The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green’ to ‘Bonkers’, the people of London’s East End have always appreciated a good tune. Our unique history, shaped by its connection to the river as a source of inspiration, work, and migration, has produced an extraordinary musical legacy, spanning everything from folk songs and sea shanties to music hall, jazz, punk, the Asian underground and grime.

Featuring over a hundred rare items selected from the collections of Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives, this exhibition explores how our borough and its people have inspired and shaped popular music, both locally and globally, over four centuries.

Free entry! Please check opening hours before visiting.

cockney rebels poster

Upcoming exhibition

Communities of Liberation exhibition

1-29 March, 2025 

Location: Tower Hamlets Town Hall, 160 Whitechapel Road, London E1 1BJ

We invite you to discover untold stories of Black lives 300 years ago in London’s East End.

Communities of Liberation is a new public exhibition bringing to light Black experiences in Tower Hamlets during the transatlantic Slave Trade.

The exhibition is based on the research and creative work of six local residents who have used archive collections to tell stories of the ordinary lives of Africans who lived in the East End between 1567 and 1802.

The exhibition features artwork, poetry, podcasts, and creative writing, as well as the archival sources which inspired the Co-Producers.

Researched and created by the Communities of Liberation team, in collaboration with Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives. Supported by Historic England and Tower Hamlets Council.

 

page from Day book

Upcoming exhibition

The Brady Club – A Legacy for the Future

14 March - 21 June, 2025 

The Brady Club – A Legacy for the Future serves as a poignant call to action for increased funding and support for youth services, and comprises the culmination of an eight-year research and digitisation project, which celebrates the rich history and ongoing impact of the pioneering Brady Clubs. 

1960s Brady Club event

Past exhibitions

Basil Olton

What We Have Become

Thursday 28 March – Saturday 1 June 2024

A group show by five visual artists, curated by Basil Olton, exploring the impact of local and colonial archives on personal and collective identity.

Image by Basil Olton.

Photograph (c) Paul Trevor of an anti-racist protest in Brick Lane, 1978.

Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point

2 December 2023 - 16 March 2024

This exhibition revealed the dramatic events in 1978 which were sparked by the racist murder of Altab Ali, a 24-year-old Bengali leather garments worker, and pays tribute to the activists who mobilised around the rallying cry of justice that followed.

everything is different, nothing has changed text on orange background

Everything is Different, Nothing has Changed

15 August - 23 November 2023

The first ever exhibition of sound art inspired by the amazing collections of oral history and archival audio held at Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives.