🦋 There’s a butterfly hiding in your recycling. Watch artist Patrick Bullock turn an everyday milk carton into a butterfly puppet, then have a go at home. All you need is a clean poly-carton, scissors and something to colour with. You can download a butterfly template here. Barking Riverside’s unique natural environment, wildlife and insects […]
Read More… from Make your own milk carton butterfly for the Pollinator Parade at Emerge East
This September, we are presenting the world premiere of a major new artwork at Emerge East in Barking Riverside. We commissioned world-renowned artist Luke Jerram to make a new artwork inspired by the ecology of Barking Riverside, and in response, he has created Pollenarium – a giant immersive pollen grain that will give us a […]
You are invited to share your idea for an event that could take place at Galleon Arts Centre on Boundary Road IG11 7JRon Sat 30 and/or Sun 31 May 2026 We are looking for ideas for events that bring people together, celebrate culture, nurture creativity or share skills. Events will explore how Galleon Arts Centre can […]
Read More… from Got an idea for an event that could happen at Galleon Arts Centre?
The programme puts culture in the hands of the local community Creative Barking and Dagenham has been awarded £1 million as part of Arts Council England’s largest ever Creative People and Places (CPP) Portfolio, which sees £42 million invested in 45 programmes from 2026–29, to deliver more grassroots-led cultural experiences in areas across England where […]
The cultural sector didn’t set out to become obsessed with measurement but, over the past forty years, measurement has hardened as the primary logic. Beginning in the 1980s, cultural policy in the UK shifted from subsidy-as-right to subsidy-as-investment. The National Lottery in the 1990s accelerated this shift as with new funds came new accountability frameworks, […]
Read More… from Reimagining cultural life as living networks
Named after the Latin word meliora – meaning “better things” – this striking and immersive installation represented the pursuit of positive change. Enhanced by dynamic lighting and a custom soundscape, Barking and Dagenham citizens were invited to move through Meliora’s abstract and interwoven curves. Meliora was presented in Barking Riverside between 6 and 11 September […]
We’re excited to be part of this groundbreaking initiative reimagining decision-making in the cultural sector and beyond. […]