Laisul Hoque Wins East London Art Prize

by SHOWstudio on 4 February 2025

Laisul Hoque brings home the East London Art Prize for his interactive installation An Ode to All the Flavours, inspired by the artist’s childhood memories of his father and food.

Laisul Hoque brings home the East London Art Prize for his interactive installation An Ode to All the Flavours, inspired by the artist’s childhood memories of his father and food.

The Labour Party may have made a promise of commitment to the creative arts post-sweeping election victory last year, but until that's fully realised, communities in London and beyond have no one but themselves to depend on when it comes to keeping the arts afloat. Trust us when we say they are doing exactly that.

Deciding to take the fate of East London into their own hands is Bow Arts, who, last week, announced Bengali artist Laisul Hoque as the winner of the second iteration of the East London Art Prize, which will now see Hoque awarded £15,000 and a solo exhibition at Bow Arts’ Nunnery Gallery in early 2026 for his deliciously smelling, tantalisingly tasty interactive installation An Ode to All the Flavours (yes, you can eat the food). Inspired by the artist's childhood memories of his father sharing his favourite food, Hoque's installation features real-time traditional Bengali sweets from local caterers, with who he's partnered for the duration of East London Prize’s 2025 shortlist exhibition, which also features artwork by the 11 other shortlisted artists out of 800 plus submissions.

East London Art Prize Shortlist Exhibition, installation view at Nunnery Gallery, 2025. Photo: Rob Harris. Courtesy of Bow Arts

There's a touching kinship between the East London Art Prize's emphasis on community and Hoque's values, exemplified not only by his winning installation, An Ode to All the Flavours, but by his rather niche choice of choosing to partner with Oitij-jo Kitchen to make it all possible, who, unlike other community-run cafes, is an East London-based social enterprise on a mission. By exclusively choosing to work with local Bengali women, Oitij-jo Kitchen serves the very community it hopes to empower by helping their employees achieve financial independence and autonomy from entrenched patriarchal systems. Hoque’s installation establishes Nunnery Gallery as a paid retainer client of Oitij-jo Kitchen throughout the exhibition period, supporting their mission and amplifying their social impact by serving food to all who choose to stop by the exhibition during its running time.

Speaking of the fruitful impact Hoque’s project has had on the local community, as well as the artist's ingenuity Prize judge and journalist Louise Benson told SHOWstudio:

'Laisul Hoque’s work transports me. It transports me. It transports me beyond the gallery to the East London streets outside, where the British-Bangladeshi community coexists alongside thousands of other migrants from all over the world who have made this city their home. An Ode to All the Flavours tells an evocative family story of a favourite food that is rooted in a specific time, place and culture, but its real power lies in how Hoque is able to unfurl this individual memory until it encompasses each of us, bathed in the warm yellow glow of the fleeting snack bar he has created. Quietly political in its direct engagement of local enterprise while remaining deeply personal, this is a work that is both inward and outward-looking. I couldn’t think of a more fitting winner of the East London Art Prize.'

East London Art Prize Shortlist Exhibition, installation view at Nunnery Gallery, 2025. Photo: Rob Harris. Courtesy of Bow Arts

Following not too far beyond Hoque is painter Lydia Newman, who, as runner-up, will receive a year’s free studio space at one of Bow Arts’ studio sites. Newman’s triptych In the Wake of Ruin, She is Here (2024) examines inherited dialogues and internalised ideas of race, globalisation, class, and gender. To quote panellist Judge Phoebe Collings-James, 'I can feel an urgency rushing through the canvas and a connection to her wider practice which includes performance and sculpture', she told SHOWstudio. 'Her painting was very moving to me and I look forward to seeing her work develop with the studio space and the support of Bow Arts.'

The ten other shortlisted artists besides Newman and Hoque include Darcey Fleming, dmstfctn, Eugene Macki, Fatima Ali, Gusty Ferro, Joseph Ijoyemi, Kuda Mushangi, Liang-Jung Chen, Mo Langmuir, and Yang Zou.

The Prize’s shortlist exhibition is on view at the Nunnery Gallery until 13 April 2025. All of the shortlisted artists will receive ongoing mentoring and career development opportunities in the year following the award.

East London Art Prize Shortlist Exhibition, installation view at Nunnery Gallery, 2025. Photo: Rob Harris. Courtesy of Bow Arts

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