ABSTRACT
For centuries Spitalfields, in East London, has accommodated successive waves of new immigrants from across the world – Huguenots, East European Jews and, in the last 30 years, Bangladeshis. Today traces of these various immigrant communities live on in the architecture and everyday life of the area. Over the years, Spitalfields has featured heavily in the art of Gilbert and George, and appeared in many works of fiction (Lichtenstein and Sinclair 1999; Ali 2003). It has also been the focus of several academic studies (Jacobs 1996; Pinder 2001). In these ways, Spitalfields has come to be consumed (inter)nationally.
