By Appointment Only: Romani art, culture and heritage opens in The Reflections Room at London Museum Docklands on Tuesday 25 November 2025. Co-curated by exhibiting artist Corrina Eastwood, it showcases the work of three British Romani artists, who share their identity and experiences through Romani visual activism.
Inspired by the trade and industry of London’s Docklands, the artworks on display honour the livelihoods, creativity and craft of Romani communities, and their contribution to British society. Steeped in personal memory, the display seeks to challenge stereotypes and presents a timeline of British Romani history – offering an invitation to foster better understanding and connection.
The display centres around 3 key works:
Sugar Coated (2025) by Corrina Eastwood
Artist, activist and writer Eastwood draws on her experience as a British Romani woman to highlight marginalised voices. In this deeply personal piece, she reflects on her heritage and memories of her late father, incorporating 3D-printed casts of his hands
Tap Your Heels Together Three Times (2025) by Delaine Le Bas
Le Bas’ practice explores belonging, gender, and modernity. In this piece, featuring her grandfather’s prize rosette, she draws on family history and Romani traditions such as totting and rag and bone. Through this work, she examines who society includes and excludes
What Makes a Home? (2025) by Dan Turner
South-east London artist and educator Turner, investigates the relationship between Romani and mainstream British culture. His installation presents objects made using traditional Romani crafts once sold door to door and questions whether such items are functional or decorative, permanent or fleeting
Alongside these works, a timeline by Romany author, archaeologist, broadcaster and award-winning filmmaker John-Henry Phillips, illustrates the history of the communities dating from the year 500 up to 2022. The Historic England film Searching for Romani Gypsy Heritage with John Henry Phillips (2024) and an oral history piece, both produced by John-Henry, contextualise the timeline and explore the resilience of the communities and how their stories live on today.
Corrina Eastwood, Co-Curator and Artist said: “Working on the display has felt like a really important personal and professional journey for me. I created my commissioned artwork, a very personal piece, in parallel with exploring wider picture thinking to represent my community and culture, within historical and socio-political contexts. Desire to adequately honour self, family, community and culture has been a moving, and at times overwhelming experience. Yet we have been able to address this weaving together shared histories, gathered through the more traditional objective archiving and an art-based approach. In this way The Reflections Room provides a beautifully human, alternative space for the acknowledgment of important, often unspoken histories.”
Jean-Francois Manicom, Senior Curator at London Museum said: “We are proud to invite people to a display dedicated to the stories of British Romani communities. The artists convey compelling histories, memories, and perspectives that the museum is proud to present and celebrate. We hope this fosters space for recognition, dialogue, and a deeper understanding of our shared cultural fabric. This is about creating space for these voices to shape the way we see the history and culture of London and beyond.”
The first recorded reference to Romani people in Britain dates to 1505. Until the 1990s, it was common to see signs in pubs and restaurants reading “No travellers or Gypsies allowed.” This phrase later became “Travellers by Appointment Only.” Taking this as its title, and through a historic timeline, the display reflects on the many challenges that are faced by Romani people, which continue to this day.
The Reflections Room is a display space for artists and opened at London Museum Docklands in 2024. Complementing the museum’s galleries, it offers room to explore a range of ideas and perspectives that foreground emotions and human experiences connected to London’s history. The first display Exodus by British-Caribbean artist Zak Ové explored migration, highlighting the history and challenges of major population movements. By Appointment Only is the gallery’s second display.
By Appointment Only: Romani art, culture and heritage is on display at London Museum Docklands from 25 November 2025. It is free to view as part of a general admission to the museum. For more information visit: https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/by-appointment-only/
