Fresh take on 'street art' at the Whitechapel Gallery

EAST Enders form part of an exhibition and art installation at the prestigious Whitechapel Gallery. Artist Melanie Manchot worked with residents of Cyprus Street, east London, to hold a street party and make a new film last summer. Drawing on traditions o

EAST Enders form part of an exhibition and art installation at the prestigious Whitechapel Gallery.

Artist Melanie Manchot worked with residents of Cyprus Street, east London, to hold a street party and make a new film last summer.

Drawing on traditions of group portraiture at public street parties, Melanie Manchot's new work, Celebration (Cyprus Street), explores individual and collective identity through photography and film.

The party is documented with a single tracking shot, capturing residents as they gather in front of the camera.

The film bridges still and moving image to look at the process of forming and dissolving a group portrait and Manchot asks questions about what it means to form a community, both through the collaboration between residents and artist for the party, and in the relationships captured on film among the participants.

The film is shown alongside a new series of photographs made with the residents and a display of archive footage of street parties, including peace parties in 1919 and 1945.

The exhibition runs at the gallery in Whitechapel High Street until March14. Entry is free.