The Last Supper – 1981 is a participatory public art project exploring transformation through food culture in the Royal Docks during their final year of operation. Proposed for Newham’s 60th anniversary, it honours the borough’s industrial past while engaging present-day communities in remembering and reimagining life through food, memory, and shared traditions.

The year 1981 marked the closure of the Royal Docks and a profound shift for local communities—economically, socially, and culturally. This project focuses on food as a medium of resilience: what people ate, where they ate it, and who they shared it with during that time. Meals became ways to hold onto identity, connection, and routine in the face of loss and change.

Now a resident of the Royal Docks, I am especially interested in how this history can inform current transformations in the area. This first stage will lay the groundwork for a future public artwork by gathering personal stories, food memories, and recipes connected to dockside life.