Rhythm & Rag Workshops

Join our fun, hands-on summer workshops and create your own DIY percussion instruments using recycled and everyday materials. Inspired by the working-class skiffle music movement of 1950s East London, these creative sessions celebrate homemade music, resourcefulness, and community spirit.

Using objects such as bottle tops, tin cans, boots, fabric scraps, wood, and other reclaimed materials, participants will experiment with sound and rhythm while building unique instruments together. Skiffle music gave working-class young people an accessible way to make music from whatever they had around them, and these workshops continue that same spirit of creativity, play, and collective expression.

The workshops are part of the Material Histories project, which explores the social and cultural histories of the East End textile industry through art, making, and community collaboration. The instruments created during the sessions will be used in a community-led banner procession from Oxford House to Whitechapel Gallery, retracing the historic routes of the East End textile industry through music, movement, banners, and celebration.

Come along, get creative and help us make some noise!