In October 2025, Museum X will collaborate with Republic Education Campus and local collector Julie Elizabeth to present a month‑long residency at East India Dock.

The programme will bring together an exhibition drawn from Julie Elizabeth’s collection of artists of African and Caribbean heritage, a launch event and a series of workshops and a guided walk. By situating contemporary practice within the long histories of trade and migration at the Docklands, we will create space for public dialogue on memory, collecting and belonging.

Exhibition

We will present What Does a Collector Collect, curated by the artist and curator Annette Fernando. The exhibition will consider collecting as a relational practice that connects artist and collector, artwork and memory, diaspora and home. Works will span painting, photography, installation, ceramics and mixed media across two sites at Republic: the Export Building and Westland Coffee and Wine.

The selection will include works by Gloria Bourne, Joshua Donkor, Alvin Kofi, Andrea Gayle, Annette Fernando, Celestin Edward, Love Hannington, Mary Blomley, Maya Gurung Russell Campbell, Natasha Muluswela and Kwame Boama Mensa Aborampa. The Collector’s Table will bring together woven textiles, ceramics and books to illuminate the everyday rituals that shape a life in art.

Launch and public viewing

We will open with an evening launch in the Export Atrium featuring a Community Portrait Wall with photographer Brian Whar, a live salon on power, memory and ownership moderated by Sandra Shakespeare, and hands‑on making stations. Catering will be provided by Xenia’s Bakery. The public will be able to view the exhibition the following day.

WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS

Stories Behind the Portraits

We will host an intergenerational workshop with private collector Julie Elizabeth that invites participants to explore how families and communities preserve histories through photographs and portraits, and to consider simple ways to care for images at home.

Quilting for Self Expression

We will welcome the award‑winning graphic designer and craft educator Jahnavi Innis for a hands‑on session using quilting as a tool for storytelling, resistance and representation. Participants will design and stitch an individual quilt block. Materials will be provided. Click here for free tickets LINK

African Legacies Walk

Artist and creative learning practitioner Remiiya Badru will guide a walk through East London that follows waterways and sites connected to histories of migration, labour and resilience. Grounded in her multi‑sensory walking practice, the walk will invite reflection on what she describes as liquid histories and on re memory and healing in public space. Click here for free tickets LINK

Archiving to Remember

Community archivist and artist educator Cassia Clarke will lead a practical workshop on caring for domestic photographic archives. Drawing on her publication Preserving the Familial Archive, the session will combine creative reflection with foundational preservation methods around handling, sleeves and labelling. Participants will be invited to bring one personal photograph in digital or physical form. Click here for free tickets LINK

Access and participation

Republic Education Campus will provide step free access across the site. A quiet space will be available on request. The walking route will aim to be step free where possible, with some uneven surfaces. Event photography will take place with an opt‑out available. All activity will be free and open to students, residents and the local community.

Why this collaboration

Together with Republic Education Campus and Julie Elizabeth we will locate a privately assembled collection within a public learning environment. By linking an exhibition with practice‑based learning we will support intergenerational exchange, confidence in creative skills and community archiving. The walking tour will extend inquiry into the urban landscape, connecting East India Dock’s geography to wider narratives of empire, migration and contemporary belonging.

Find out more

Details about the programme will be available on Republic Education Campus and Museum X channels as dates approach. For venue information see Republic’s website. For updates on workshops and the exhibition follow Museum X on Instagram.

Funded by Tower Hamlets CVS Community Sparks grants programme.