Exhibition: Secret Rivers

For centuries Londoners have existed beside a series of waterways, which have shaped the city and people within it. The history of this relationship and the art that it has inspired are the focus of our next major exhibition, Secret Rivers.

This exhibition draws from the museum's archaeological collections and recent excavations to uncover the forgotten secrets of London's rivers, streams, and brooks, revealing clues about how the rivers were used through millennia of human habitation.

Paintings, prints and contemporary art show how these waterways have changed over the centuries, and previously unseen artefacts from excavations of the Fleet River and elsewhere hint at the diverse industrial, economic and religious roles these rivers have previously played.

Stories of the Thames and other rivers still flowing through the city are uncovered, along with the histories of the 'lost rivers' now buried beneath the streets and incorporated into the city's sewer system.

The exhibition uses the Effra, Fleet, Neckinger, Tyburn, Walbrook and Westbourne to explore themes of industry, manipulation, activism and more, as well as looking at restoration on the Lea and Wandle.