Back in 1855 the Royal Docks supercharged London’s economy. A bold engineering vision, they became a nexus for trade in everything from wool to tobacco. Once the world’s largest enclosed docks, they cemented the capital as a global trading centre. But there’s a dark history here too, as it played a central role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and moved goods such as sugar, rum and molasses. As a major infrastructure target, they were also extensively bombed in the Second World War.
The world has changed a lot since then and today the Royal Docks is to many people a hidden gem, at the northern end of the Emirates cable car. But it is once again undergoing a transformation, a new kind of commerce is taking shape, as ideas and imagination become the currency of the 21st century and this part of the capital becomes an engine room once more.
Artists from all around the world have been inspired by the evolution of the docks and its role in shaping London’s story as the global city it is today. This is all being celebrated as part of the Royal Docks Originals festival, which starts next week, bringing world-class arts, spectacular installations, and original performances to this growing corner of the capital.
From a visceral fire spectacular by French fire artists Compagnie Carabosse to a giant neon tiger by British Punjabi artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman MBE. Graphic Rewilding’s huge botanical mural is an ode to the flowers and plants that can be found in the docks. You can also jump on board the cable car with a composer, a poet, or an artist to co-create instant pieces of art while riding high across the Thames.
Continuing the theme of transition, two large dot-flip display boards, like the ones seen at train stations will appear at Compressor House. Artists YARA + DAVINA are inviting the public to submit the names of people who have arrived and departed. In place of the usual train schedules, the names will appear on the display boards, celebrating and commemorating the people we care about.
Water has always been at the heart of the story of the docks but its new vision is as a major centre for water-based arts and events, from open-water swimming to world class art. A collection of public art works commissioned every two years will steadily grow giving Londoners and visitors fresh reasons to return to this extraordinary waterfront again and again. It also has stunning riverside properties.
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There’s an acknowledgment too of the traumatic history of this place and the very first memorial to the victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade has been commissioned by the Mayor of London. This powerful work by artist Khaleb Brooks will soon be a permanent reminder of the complex history of this place, set outside the London Museum Docklands – which has one of the UK’s only permanent galleries dedicated to the history of Transatlantic Slavery.
It's clear the Royal Docks is part of a bigger story — the cultural renaissance of East London. One of London’s youngest and most diverse areas, there is a dynamic energy out east. East Bank in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is now the largest cultural and education district to arrive in London in over 150 years. With the recently opened David Bowie Centre at the V&A East Storehouse the latest offering, over the road from award-winning choreographer Sir Wayne McGregor’s studio in what was originally the Olympic broadcasting centre. There’s a new Sadler’s Wells East, London College of Fashion and UCL East all open and BBC studios and V&A galleries are on the horizon. With the largest concentration of artists in Europe putting down roots in Hackney Wick and Fish Island, helped along by the Mayor’s innovative Creative Enterprise Zone.
ABBA Voyage at Pudding Mill Lane has been a standout global success, selling millions of tickets and boosting the economy by £1.4 billion. The screen industries are growing too with the London’s largest film and TV campus Eastbrook Studios in Dagenham, adding to the more established 3 Mills Film Studios, favoured by directors Danny Boyle and Wes Anderson. There’s a creative resurgence going on and the ‘Magnetic East’ shows the capital’s cultural engine shows no signs of slowing.
