Bowfest: Open Studios

Get ready for Bow Arts’ biggest event of the summer! Meet our community of over 100 talented artists working at our flagship site, Bow Road.

Join us in the Courtyard for live music, a makers market, family workshops, food stalls and more.

This year Bow Arts are once again throwing open the doors to Bow Road Studios for an unmissable event. Come and celebrate our thriving community of some of east London’s brightest emerging and established artists, designers and makers. Get to know the artists working in your community. Guests are invited into over 100 studios across our Bow Road site. Inside, artists curate micro galleries, set-up stalls, and display their practice to the public.

On Friday evening, we’ll have live music from a jazz band playing in the Bow Arts Courtyard, and a DJ booth at our Nunnery Café. Enjoy a drink, sample some locally made food including freshly made falafels from Falafel Time, and bask in the summer air in one of east London’s best-loved outdoor spaces.

On Saturday, our makers market returns alongside free family activities! Local artists will be selling artwork, gifts, and more, while one of our Bow Arts artist educators will be leading a free, drop-in family-friendly art workshop. Delicious refreshments will also be available throughout at our Nunnery Café and the Nunnery Gallery will be exhibiting the Bow Open, our annual showcase of work by Bow Arts studio holders and artist educators.

What’s On

Meet the Artists Over 100 artists across 100 studios will have their workspace open to look inside. Browse the artworks on sale or enjoy a conversation inside our historic studio site.

Visit the Nunnery Gallery This year’s Bow Open exhibition at the gallery brings together work from 25 artists centred around the theme of belonging, selected by young curators with Mile End Community Project. Exhibition Tour | 7pm & 8pm Friday, drop-in. Meet at the Nunnery Gallery for a guided tour of the exhibition with Young Curators Eleanor or Lydia.

Live Music Sit back and listen to our live jazz band play in the Bow Arts Courtyard. There will also be a DJ at the Nunnery Café on Friday evening.

Browse Our Local Artist & Makers’ Market Studio artists from across Bow Arts will be part of a vibrant market on Saturday to show off their creations.

Get creative with Bow Families Visitors of all ages are invited to join a free family-friendly art workshop run by artist Nicola McEvoy to make mythological puppet creatures or deities.

Purchase Original Artwork All artwork, in the studios, the gallery, and the café will be available to buy using Own Art, the affordable art scheme that enables buyers to spread the cost.