A public space for art and social activity

“Tenants shall be as free as possible to order their lives in their own way, so that they may pursue their originality…” LCC Becontree Estate Tenants’ Handbook, 1921

In August 2016, Create worked with architects Apparata to transform The White House, a derelict 18th century farmhouse on Dagenham’s Becontree Estate, into a new public space for art and social activity. The White House invites artists to live at the house, to make new art and join people living locally to create the vision for this new public building.

Since opening it has been home to 19 artists and hosted a range of workshops, talks, dinners and events – with artist residencies resulting in a socialist pantomime, a mockumentary film, a site specific theatre production, and an anti-social social club.

Alongside the artist residencies, the House hosts a Front Room Programme which includes coffee mornings, arts and craft groups facilitated by local people, poetry classes and film screenings. The Front Room Programme has been designed with the people that come to the house, and is often a legacy of the artists’ projects and their own interests.

Delaine Le Bas: Stranger in Silver Walking on Air

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.