snippets
i’ve been hanging out in the shop as people come and go to the surround sound of bells, goats, children singing….and when the interviews are playing all at once it really does feel like whitechapel in there, albeit a gentler whitechapel, edited to make a little more sense than the reality. a little more in tune with itself.
i also finally found time today to listen to all the stories between visitors to the shop. they’ve been beautifully edited and orchestrated. and it’s what i understand of whitechapel - messy, chaotic, random, diverse, hard most of all, deep, and quite fascinating. i can’t say i love it here yet. but i certainly am interested in it. and developing a bit of a passion for it. ready to make our bit of history here.
here are some of the things i learned about whitechapel today:
talking of maps, look what i found…
1894 ordinance map of whitechapel division (partial)
courtesy of Robert House
courtesy of www.casebook.org
some things i’ve discovered about whitechapel…
i’ve been interviewing local people in whitechapel - residents, commuters, visitors to the hospital or market - for a week now. these are some of the things they’ve shared with me about their patch of london.
“you come out of the tube and it’s just this maelstrom of people.”
“it’s got a character all of its own. in this area you can totally be whoever you want to be.”
“you’re walking around and you’re trying to miss the globs of gob on the pavement, and inbetween the globs of gob are chicken bones everywhere.”
“i love it. it’s grubby and it’s grungy and it’s not posh at all, and i love that about it.”
“it’s got a very distinct character of its own, but it’s beginning to change.”
“it’s never quiet; there’s always something going on.”
“i feel very in control my life here; i feel like i’m living the life that i’m meant to be living.”
“whitechapel’s whitechapel; there’s nowhere else like it.”
tea, cake and bramble the goat
it’s saturday afternoon, and i can’t believe my first week has already whizzed by. it’s been incredibly exciting to meet so many new people, all of whom have been so generous with their time and thoughts. over the past few days i’ve hung out at the market, where the stall holders have shared both stories and flasks of delicious spiced tea. (they told me it would be just like my father makes it - and, dad, they were right!) i’ve stroked bayleaf the donkey, and chatted to the delightful, funny and committed children at spitalfields farm young farmers’ club. and i’ve consumed some very tasty cake provided by the kind owners of fresh coffee, while they told me about the huge diversity of people who come through their doors. it’s been a whirlwind of interviews, maps and portraits; new connections and intriguing stories, as i begin to uncover what lies beneath whitechapel’s surface.
first week in residence!
kamala here… it’s been a frantic and fantastic first week at the gift shop - much like whitechapel itself! i’ve interviewed midwives at the royal london, sampled the famously delicious fare at tayyabs, and chatted away to locals at the urban bar. while i’ve recorded interviews and captured some of the area’s iconic sounds, esther has snapped away, collecting images of the people we meet and things we see. everything from first time parents doting over their brand new bundles of joy, to construction sites and strangely alluring post boxes. and then there are the maps. a little bemused, but with good humour, everyone i’ve spoken to so far has added their patch of whitechapel to the collection. it’s a myriad of unique perspectives on what makes whitechapel tick.
