V&A East Museum · Stratford
Tom Hunter Selects
This exhibition has ended.
A co-curated display exploring photographer Tom Hunter's 40+ year relationship with east London through selections from the V&A's collections and his personal archive, examining the area as a place of radical thinking and resilience.
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In one case, Margaret Thatcher's head sits on Queen Victoria's body, holding a model fighter plane where the fan should be: Peter Kennard's 1983 poster for the GLC. Near it is David King's poster for the 1978 Carnival Against the Nazis in Victoria Park, with X-Ray Spex and Steel Pulse on the bill.
Tom Hunter chose these with the V&A East Youth Collective. He started out squatting in Hackney, in a Richmond Road house with holes in the roof, and photographed his neighbours with dignity to fight the council's plan to knock their homes down. His picks follow that: Jamie Reid's Sex Pistols fanzine, Gee Vaucher's work for Crass, M11 Link Road protest material, Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother.
You find it in the free Why We Make galleries on Level 1. It is a capsule display, not a show of rooms; Hunter's own Woman Reading a Possession Order hangs on the south wall of the same gallery. The listing gives 10:00 to 17:30. It closes Sunday 18 October.
Look for
Maggie Regina, Peter Kennard
Look for Thatcher's head photomontaged onto Queen Victoria's body, a model fighter plane in her hand instead of a fan, from Kennard's 1983 GLC peace posters.
Carnival Against the Nazis poster
David King's black, yellow and red poster for the 1978 Rock Against Racism carnival in Victoria Park, billing the Tom Robinson Band, Steel Pulse and X-Ray Spex.
Anarchy in the U.K. fanzine
Jamie Reid's newsprint fanzine for the Sex Pistols' tour, with Soo Catwoman on the cover and the title in red ransom-note letters.
Map of the Parish of Hackney
A map adapted from a 1745 survey to show Hackney parish around 1800, before it was split into district parishes.
Good for
- An Hour Or Less
- Cheap Culture
- Locals Who've Seen It All
Skip if
You want a full exhibition: this is a capsule display inside the permanent galleries.
Also at V&A East Museum
On now nearby
Image credits
3
- Serpentine Pavilion 2026 by LANZA atelier© LANZA atelier. Photo: Iwan Baan. Courtesy Serpentine.
- The Wallace Collection at WarCourtesy of Wallace Collection
- Jesús Rafael Soto: Pénétrable BBL Jaune© Jesús Rafael Soto / ADAGP, Paris 2026. Courtesy Atelier Soto, Paris and Galerie Perrotin. Photo: George Darrell. Courtesy Serpentine