{"id":597873,"date":"2026-09-12T06:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T06:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/597873\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T06:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T06:56:08","slug":"walthamstows-william-morris-gallery-will-reopen-in-october-after-a-radical-rehang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/597873\/","title":{"rendered":"Walthamstow\u2019s William Morris Gallery Will Reopen in October After a Radical Rehang"},"content":{"rendered":"

The William Morris Gallery<\/a> in Walthamstow<\/a> is glowing-up. The east London institution has been closed all summer for light renovations<\/a> a rehang of its collection \u2013 the first shake-up the space since its 2012 redevelopment. Timed to mark 130 years since the designer\u2019s death, the new layout has been dreamt up in collaboration with Sam Jacob Studio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The gallery is housed in Water House, a Grade II-listed Georgian villa where a teenage Morris lived between 1848 and 1856. Today, it holds the world\u2019s most comprehensive collection of his work. The space has been a Time Out favourite since its 2012 redevelopment and won the\u00a0Art Fund Museum of the Year<\/a>\u00a0in 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The newly restored galleries will keep much-loved staples, including Morris\u2019 original textile and wallpaper designs. Early examples of his furniture will sit alongside new discoveries and recent acquisitions \u2013 all of which offer a new\u00a0perspective on his life and legacy. <\/p>\n

Designed in consultation with local residents and community groups, the reimagined spaces are intended to feel more welcoming, accessible and homely, while placing greater emphasis on previously overlooked stories. Expect a spotlight on the women who drove the Arts & Crafts movement, like May Morris, his designer daughter who ran the firm\u2019s embroidery empire. The rehang also unpacks the influence of South Asian and Islamic art on\u00a0Morris\u2019 signature repeat patterns, and the continuing relevance of his ideas across design, politics and environmental thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll also get the chance to check out\u00a0items that have been kept under wraps until now. Keep an eye out for Morris\u2019s original Hammersmith Socialist League banner on loan from Manchester, alongside his personal copy of One Thousand and One Nights, which heavily inspired his writing and love for Asian decorative arts.<\/p>\n

The gallery is also planning ahead with a brand-new space called \u2018Morris Today\u2019, set to open in 2027 as a dedicated hub for contemporary artists to riff on his ideas. Local wood-turners, glass blowers, and furniture makers have even been tapped to build the new spaces, keeping Morris\u2019s obsession with sustainable craft alive. The big reveal comes right alongside a major new exhibition, Earthly Paradise: Radical Living in the UK, tracking 200 years of British art and activism.<\/p>\n

William Morris Gallery will reopen with a newly rehung collection on October 3 2026.<\/p>\n

Did you know a\u00a0major new Katsushika Hokusai exhibition is opening in London next month?<\/a><\/p>\n

Plus:\u00a0John Lewis has unveiled a first-of-its-kind restaurant in London<\/a><\/p>\n

Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke \u2013 from news and reviews to events and trends. Just\u00a0follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stay in the loop: sign up for our\u00a0free Time Out London newsletter<\/a>\u00a0for the best of the city, straight to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow is glowing-up. The east London institution has been closed all summer for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[1228,442,498,499,500,31542,501,156,111,31543,139,69,269913],"class_list":["post-597873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-art","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-categories-art","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-news-art","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-outside-kl-london"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}