Stranger in Silver Walking on Air by DELAINE LE BAS

Friday 21 March – Saturday 27 September 2025
Free for all visitors
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Step into an immersive exhibition that transforms The White House on the Becontree Estate into a dreamlike space of shifting, layered imagery and powerful storytelling. Artist Delaine Le Bas invites you to explore the hidden histories and resilience of Roma and Traveller communities through textiles, sculptural objects, glasswork and interactive installations.

Painted fabrics and printed silks layer over one another, shimmering and shifting as you move through the space—offering only glimpses of stories, just as Roma and Traveller lives are often half-seen or misunderstood. You are invited to interact with these delicate works, moving curtains aside to reveal new perspectives. Engraved glass catches the light, while intimate textiles echo the presence of those who have passed through before.

The exhibition also extends into the everyday. In the kitchen, artist-designed ceramics invite visitors to sit, share and reflect, while a curated library offers deeper insight into the history and struggles of these nomadic and persecuted communities. A series of readings, performances and community events welcome audiences to ‘stop’ at the house, creating a space of dialogue, rest and connection. This reflects the sentiment of ‘Atchin Tan’; a Romany phrase that translates as ‘stopping place’.

Outside, a playful yet poignant encampment of ‘rubbish doll’ figures—a motif Le Bas has explored for over two decades—occupies the front lawn. These eerie, makeshift dolls, with their plastic faces and garbage-bag bodies, serve as a sharp, ironic reminder of societal attitudes toward dispossession and belonging.

In this exhibition, The White House becomes a temporary home for stories often erased and invites you in to see, to listen and to stay a while.

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Stranger in Silver Walking on Air by Delaine Le Bas is commissioned by Create London. The project is supported by Art Fund, Arts Council England – National Lottery Project Grants, and Cockayne Grants for the Arts – a donor-advised fund held at The London Community Foundation.