Royal Docks Originals

Hive Curates co-produced and curated part of the Docks Open Art Series as part of Royal Docks Originals, a brand-new biennial festival that brought world-class arts, spectacular installations, and original performances to the Royal Docks. Launching on Monday 15th September, the festival presented over 50 events across three weeks, inviting artists, residents, and visitors to explore the area’s past, present, and future through the theme of Metamorphosis, transformation and journeys, celebrating the stories, heritage, and aspirations of the Royal Docks community.

Hive Curates brought together a diverse range of works that responded to the Docks’ land and waterscape, creating a vibrant tapestry of creativity, memory, and imagination:

Local artist Hannah Whittaker’s glowing installation transformed handmade flowers into a living archive of the Royal Docks. Each petal was decorated by local participants using archival imagery and colour palettes, capturing the area’s history while celebrating its evolution into a hub of creativity and connection. Through projection mapping, textures, maps, and footage of the Docks the Bioluminescent Garden was created, a work that embodied transformation, of materials, of the space, and of the community itself.

You Press brought live music and spoken word to the Good Hotel. Emerging artists and local storytellers explored migration, regeneration, resilience, and cultural heritage through soulful performances and poetry. This uplifting event transformed public spaces into stages for creativity, amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities in Newham and celebrating the area’s rich history and bright future.

Participants stepped into Kevin Audience’s Docks Photobooth of Futures, an interactive portrait installation at the IFS Cable Car entrance. They were photographed in a pop-up photobooth and transformed with “future filters,” blending archival imagery, futuristic motifs, and symbols of community aspirations. The portraits now contribute to a digital archive, capturing collective imagination and pride while exploring identity, memory, and possibility.

Rain Crew celebrated hip hop culture with Rain Jam, a dance battle full of music, movement, and excitement. Dancers competed, showcasing skill, creativity, and self-expression, while audiences experienced the joy, resilience, and connection that were central to the community spirit of this vibrant art form.

Cargoes, a moving-image installation at Bow Arts, transformed the space into a living canvas of light and sound. Developed with local groups from the West Silvertown Village Community Foundation, the installation layered archival imagery with participants’ collages, drawings, and sound recordings, creating a dreamscape that reflected the Docks’ history, transformation, and ongoing stories of the community.

Luke Gray’s Threads of Arrival transformed the exterior of Compressor House into a vibrant, site-specific mural celebrating the cultural heritage and lived experiences of Newham’s migrant communities. Painted live during the festival, the artwork wove together traditional textile patterns, local portraits, and imagery of migration to create a symbolic tapestry of resilience and identity. Each motif reflected the journeys of those who arrived at the docks and helped shape Newham into the diverse borough it is today.