Angel Alley is the former public accessway that runs from Whitechapel High St to Gunthorpe St. It includes a courtyard area that sits between Whitechapel Gallery and Freedom Bookshop. The alley is no longer a throughway after the addition of a gate at one end, and so the space has taken on a new meaning as a public space, whilst falling on the edges of jurisdiction of eight local stakeholders who have rights of access.
In a progressively gentrified East End, the Alley represents a microcosm of the pressures that many people living in London face: in particular, the ongoing displacement of communities and a lack of access to affordable housing and healthcare.
Angel Alley is a complex site, filled with contradictions and contested narratives and intentions. Not everyone who lives and works around the Alley always agrees with one another, but our common ground is that we care about and want to keep talking about the Alley, to ensure its future as a safe and accessible public space.
For the Whitechapel Gallery, the Angel Alley project presents a number of questions:
