“A new biennial festival from London’s Cultural Engine”

Hive Curates is delighted to announce their participation in Royal Docks Originals 2025. Curating and producing a series of public artworks for the festival, this includes newly commissioned pieces by renowned artists Chila Kumari Singh Burman and Graphic Rewilding, made in collaboration with local communities. As part of Hive Curates’ live and digital series open call for local artists and creative practitioners, several smaller commissions will also appear throughout the festival, including artwork by: Joy Yamusangie, Luke Gray, SDNA and Hannah Whittaker, with participatory creative events by Kevin Audience, You Press and Rain Crew.

Royal Docks Originals

Royal Docks Originals is a brand-new free biennial festival presenting world-class arts, spectacular installations, and original performances created in the Royal Docks and presented for three weeks in Autumn 2025.

Launching on Monday, 15th September, more than 50 events will respond to the Royal Docks' stunning land and waterscape and its development as a hub of cultural production, as part of Metamorphosis: a celebration of transformation and journeys. The festival invites artists, Londoners, and visitors to explore the area’s past and future through the lens of Metamorphosis, revealing the stories, history, heritage, and aspirations of the Royal Docks community.

The inaugural programme features artists and creatives based in Royal Docks alongside works made here by French fire artists Compagnie Carabosse, British Punjabi artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman MBE, collaborative artist duo YARA + DAVINA, and artistic practice Graphic Rewilding.

Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries, Justine Simons OBE said: “Royal Docks Originals is a fantastic new festival that will give artists, Londoners, and visitors a chance to explore the heritage and potential of this thriving area.

“From the Blue Sunset mural by Graphic Rewilding to Chila Burman’s My Tiger Janu sculpture, these spectacular artworks will inspire our future generation of creatives as we build a better, more prosperous London for everyone.”

Metamorphosis: A Celebration of Transformation and Journeys

Inspired by its industrial heritage, iconic landscape, and tapestry of cultures, the Royal Docks is becoming London’s Cultural Engine – an innovative ideas factory and centre of creative production that will power the City’s cultural life. Royal Docks Originals will celebrate how this part of London is evolving and its significant place in the city’s rich, international history. Built over 100 years ago, the Royal Docks played a key part in the industrial revolution and Britain’s era of colonial trade. Today, as London’s only enterprise zone and with one of the UK’s youngest, most diverse communities calling it home, the area shines as a beacon of innovation and possibility.

Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, said: “Royal Docks Originals is a phenomenal celebration of everything that makes Newham extraordinary—our creativity, our diversity, and our community spirit. We’re so proud that residents, workers, and students from across the borough are coming together with leading Newham creatives and businesses to honour the area’s rich heritage, people, and places.

This festival is about more than culture for culture’s sake. It’s about creating real opportunities for our residents, supporting local businesses, and building a borough where everyone can thrive. From young people exploring creative careers to families enjoying free performances in public spaces, this is culture that belongs to all of us. It’s part of our mission to make Newham a fairer, more vibrant and more connected place to live—and I can’t wait to see our communities come together to make it unforgettable.”

Royal Docks Originals is a powerful expression of Newham’s 15-year Cultural Strategy, ‘Building Newham’s Creative Future’—embedding culture in everyday life, supporting local talent, and creating real opportunities for residents. It reflects the borough’s commitment to community wealth building and inclusive growth, ensuring that investment in culture benefits local people and strengthens the local economy.

Artist Commissions

Chila Kumari Singh Burman: Royal Reflections and Sweet Hope

Chila Burman is a renowned British-Indian multidisciplinary artist celebrated for her vibrant, politically-charged artworks devoted to challenging stereotypes, and placing alternative perspectives of Britishness at the forefront of art history.

Three vibrant neon sculptures: an ice cream, mermaid and dragon light up the side and back of the kiosk. Burman interweaves her personal history with that of the Royal Docks; reflecting on memories of her father’s ice cream van, she also references the sugar and ice cream factories that once existed at the Docks. Whilst Burman’s Mermaid is a testament to the strength of female energy, the Dragon is symbolic of water, power, wisdom and to Burman, a sense of fierce protection.

The reverse side of the kiosk features Burman’s large wave collaged mural, embodying her renowned punk punjabi aesthetic. Co-designed with Oasis Academy, Burman collaborated with a group of 17 students to shape the final artwork; images of objects, photos and memorabilia were collected, reflecting on their sense of belonging, family histories, cultural identity and lived experiences in the Royal Docks.

Burman’s Tuk Tuk, a decommissioned vehicle, embellished with Hindu deities, glitter, bindis and tigers also be on display throughout the festival period.

Graphic Rewilding: Blue Sunset

Blue Sunset is a new mural by creative duo, Graphic Rewilding, first launched at The Pump House in June. Commissioned by the Royal Docks Team and curated by Hive Curates, Blue Sunset reflects the borough of Newham’s rich cultural diversity through a vibrant exploration of flora and fauna; the artwork is the first in a series commissioned for the brand new Royal Docks Originals Festival 2025.

Graphic Rewilding’s Blue Sunset is an ode to the energy, diversity and stories of the area, and the design has been shaped by local residents and Docks’ heritage. It brings together flowers suggested by members of the local community, alongside fauna that references the history and the landscape surrounding The Royal Docks. Blue Sunset draws together the power of nature in urban grey spaces, and the transformative ability of this imagery in improving mental wellbeing.

Each flower represents its own historical and cultural meaning; from the bright tulips that symbolise renewal and rebirth, to the proud sunflowers that radiate positivity and strength. But these blooms were also chosen because of the personal significance they hold with local residents. By gathering suggestions, stories and memories from the community, Graphic Rewilding has built a mural that reflects both shared and subjective connections to the natural world.

Docks Open Art Series

Joy Yamusangie: Mermaid Mural

Artist Joy Yamusangie will work with local communities to create a stunning new artwork for the docs. This stylish mermaid with individually decorated scales will be made by people of all ages from around the Royal Victoria Square during the festival. The results will be hung on the side of W Warehouse in Royal Victoria Dock later in the autumn.
Joy chose a mermaid as they are a symbol of transition and migration – from water to land, human to fish… In some folklore, they even change gender. Almost every culture across the globe has stories that include mer-people. Joy’s mermaid aims to resonate with the diverse people of Newham.

Luke Gray: Threads of Arrival

**Threads of Arrival** is a vibrant, site-specific mural by local artist Luke Gray, that he will be painting on site during RDO. The mural celebrates the cultural heritage, textiles, and lived experiences of migrant communities who arrived at the docks and helped shape Newham into the diverse borough it is today. Luke’s artwork will transform a public wall into a symbolic textile of resilience and identity, blending traditional fabric patterns, local portraits, and migration imagery into one flowing composition.

SDNA: Cargoes

A captivating moving image installation transforms the inside of Bow Arts, Royal Albert Wharf, into a living canvas of colour, light and sound. Created in collaboration with local community groups, **Cargoes** blends large-scale digital projections, archival imagery and 2D artworks inspired by transformation, decolonisation and reclamation.

Through a series of workshops, participants have contributed collages, drawings and sound recordings that, layered with animations and with historic visuals, create a constantly evolving tapestry – a vessel carrying the collective narratives of the community..

Expect an atmospheric durational installation, part time capsule, part dreamscape, that reimagines the Royal Docks through the eyes and voices of its community, offering a reflective portrait of place, history and change.

Hannah Whittaker: Bioluminescent Garden

**Bioluminescent Garden is** an interactive installation celebrating transformation at the Royal Docks. During a one-day workshop, the public is invited to craft their own flower using simple materials and choose how it will be decorated. Each flower becomes part of a growing display, as more people take part. As night falls, the garden comes to life.

Using projection mapping, each handmade flower is illuminated with glowing patterns created from archival and contemporary imagery of the Royal Docks - textures, maps, and footage that reflect the area's past and present. The result is a vibrant, living artwork that evolves with every contribution. This participatory event invites visitors of all ages to reflect on the transformation of the Docks - from industrial port to cultural landmark - while becoming part of the story themselves. Come make, connect, and watch your flower light up the night.

Kevin Audience: Docks Photobooth of Futures

**Docks Photo Booth of Futures** is a participatory portrait installation designed to spark imagination and local pride through creative visual storytelling. Set in a public space in the Royal Docks, the project invites residents and passersby to step into a pop up photo booth where they are photographed and then transformed using “future filters”, layered edits that blend archival imagery, futuristic motifs, and symbolic elements representing hopes for the community’s future. Participants see their portraits instantly on screen, creating a sense of play, connection, and reflection.

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The booth uses a lightweight backdrop inspired by the area’s industrial past, simple props to spark interaction, and professional photography equipment to deliver high quality results. The final portraits may form part of a public facing display or digital archive, contributing to a collective vision of what’s to come. Rooted in place and people, the project explores memory, identity, and possibility, one image at a time.

You Press: Live Music and Spoken Word

You Press presents an uplifting day of **live music and spoken word**, featuring emerging artists and community storytellers. Through powerful poetry, soulful music, and compelling personal stories, performers will explore themes of migration, regeneration, resilience, and cultural heritage, celebrating the area’s rich past while imagining its future. Building on the success of previous Royal Docks performances, this year’s event will debut original works inspired by local voices and stories.

With its warm, inclusive atmosphere, the event promises to be both a celebration and a moment of shared reflection, transforming public spaces into stages for connection, creativity, and belonging, and amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities in Newham.

Royal Docks Originals 2025