Heads! Look To The Workers, Laura Wilson

‘The lumper, the lurker, the baker, the weaver, the spinner, the sampler, the spark… ’ is the opening line of artist Laura Wilson’s poem, inscribed into three sculptures honouring east London’s workers and makers.

The work is activated by the V&A East team with the call “Heads!” Raised and lowered by a fly system, like those used in docks and theatres, the movement reflects shift patterns and the nearby tidal flows of the River Thames.

Wilson’s artwork is informed by her research into east London theatres, factories, docks and women’s workwear. You can see these objects on display at V&A East Storehouse on Level 2.

 The sculpture will be lowered at different times of the day, daily, by V&A East's team, and visitors will have the opportunity to read the poem on the Upper Ground floor.

Please click here to listen to an audio recording of Laura Wilson reading the poem Heads! Look to the Workers, which is inscribed into her sculpture. The recording was made in February 2026 along the bank of the River Thames in East London, near Wilson's Bow Arts Trust studio at Royal Albert Wharf.

With thanks to everyone who helped along the way:

Franck Bordese, Severina Dico-Young, Susan Doe, Rob Field, Georgia Gough, Anthony Gouldbourne, Jefford Horrigan, Brendan McMullan, Emma-Kate Matthews, Charlie Noon, Adrian Phillips, Martin O’Campo, Caroline Stevenson, Rosie Strickland, Alan Whiting, Jo Wright and Polly Wright, Andrew, Vilija and everyone at JD McDougall, Dom Fraser, Old Vic, Michael Ste-Croix and Luke Cunningham, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, Benji Bailes and Dan Light, Bailes+Light, Jason Elsey, Momart, London Metropolitan Archives, OMNI, Sophie Hill, Leah Jun Oh, Amelia Maltby, João Guarantani and all at Bow Arts Trust and Royal Albert Wharf Studios, Clare Crill and Gerald Mason, Tate & Lyle, Joanna Norman, Claudia Heidebluth, Shoshanna Isaacson, VARI V&A, V&A East Youth Collective (Javier Cornejo; Joshua Dickinson; Ceylan Ismail; Maya Lewis; Shai Mitchell; Shaquan Nurse; Aniya Pramanik), Miri Ahn, Richard Boston, Gus Casley-Hayford, Rhea Chandratreya, Brendan Cormier, Sylvia Empsom, Matthew Fancy, Madeleine Haddon, Karen Hart, Georgia Haseldine, Kat Healey, Chris Larner, Laura Parker, Tim Reeve, Rubén Salgado Pérez, Kristian Volsing and all the staff and volunteers at V&A East.

A pin badge has been produced and given to everyone involved as an acknowledgement of their labour.
Research supported by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Bow Arts Trust.