Name: Reimagining the Whitechapel Gallery. Gilane Tawadros. Director
Start: 2026-05-21T19:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-05-21T20:00:00+01:00
Location: Hanbury Hall

“Re-imagining the Whitechapel Gallery”. Gilane Tawadros. Director of the Whitechapel Gallery.
About this Event

Re-imagining Whitechapel Gallery

As Whitechapel Gallery marks its 125th Anniversary, its current director Gilane Tawadros reflects on how one of the world’ s first public contemporary art galleries is building on its pioneering past to re-imagine its future as a public institution that is locally-embedded and globally-connected.

Digital drawing made by the artist Janette Parris, Whitechapel Gallery’s façade

The Spitalfields Society presents the 2025/26 season of Spitalfields Talks.

A season of eight talks to be held on the third Thursday of every month commencing in October 2025 and running to May 2026 organised and funded by the Spitalfields Society. To be held at Hanbury Hall, Spitalfields. Dates of talks provisionally as follows:

16 October. “Spitalfields & Whitechapel in old photographs”. The Gentle Author.
20 November. The Galvin Brothers. (title to be confirmed)
18 December. “The Matthew Collings Experience” with the artist, writer and broadcaster himself.
15 January. Spitalfields Society “new year” party with special guest, Sandra Esquilant in conversation with Basil Comely.
19 February. “Tailoring in Spitalfields”, Timothy Everest MBE
19 March. “Hawksmoor & Vanburgh. The Drama of Architecture”, Sir Charles Saumarez Smith.
21 May. “Reimagining the Whitechapel Gallery”. Gilane Tawadros. Director of the Whitechapel Gallery.
18 June. “The Pub Design Quiz”. Rupert Wheeler in conversation with Esther Stanhope.

The talks will be held at Hanbury Hall, 22 Hanbury Street, E1 6QR, starting at 7.00pm and finishing at 8.30pm allowing for questions and debate. Refreshments will be available, and the hall will be open from 6.30pm and 8.30pm to allow the local community and visitors to the area to socialise before and after the event. The Hall accommodates an audience of about 100.

This is the fourth season of talks to be organised by the Society. Past speakers have included such public figures as Dame Sian Phillips, Angela Harnett, Tom Parker Bowles, Griff Rhys Jones, and Dan Cruickshank. Many local residents have spoken about their area of expertise and experience, from artists and writers to polar explorers and globe makers, and many visiting academics and historians have given talks about the cultural, social, and historic heritage of Spitalfields.

Tickets organised through Eventbrite. £12 per talk. £60 for a season ticket for all eight talks. Cash café/bar from 6.30 to 8.30pm. All proceeds to go to local “worthy causes.”