Editing Whitechapel (section)

==Culture==
[[File:Whitechapel art gallery 1.jpg|right|thumb|upright|The distinctive tiled frontage of the [[Whitechapel Art Gallery]]]]
[[File:Aerial view of East London Mosque complex - Feb 2014.jpg|thumb|The [[East London Mosque]] was one of the first in Britain to be allowed to use loudspeakers to broadcast the [[adhan]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Eade |first1=John |editor1-last=Metcalf |editor1-first=Barbara Daly |title=Making Muslim Space in North America and Europe |date=1996 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=0520204042 |url=https://archive.org/details/makingmuslimspac0000unse |access-date=24 April 2015 |chapter=Nationalism, Community, and the Islamization of Space in London |quote=As one of the few mosques in Britain permitted to broadcast calls to prayer (azan), the mosque soon found itself at the center of a public debate about "noise pollution" when local non-Muslim residents began to protest. |url-access=registration}}</ref>]]
Whitechapel Road was the location of two 19th-century theatres: The Effingham (1834–1897) and [[Pavilion Theatre, Whitechapel|The Pavilion Theatre]] (1828–1935; building demolished in 1962). [[Charles Dickens Jr.]] (eldest child of [[Charles Dickens]]), in his 1879 book ''[[Dickens's Dictionary of London]]'', described the Pavilion this way: "A large East-end theatre capable of holding considerably over 3,000 persons. Melodrama of a rough type, farce, pantomime, [[et cetera|<!--SIC, &c.-->&c.]]"<ref>{{cite web |author=Dickens, Charles Jr. |year=1879 |title=Pavilion Theatre |work=[[Dickens's Dictionary of London]] |url=http://www.victorianlondon.org/dickens/dickens-p.htm |access-date=22 August 2007 |author-link=Charles Dickens Jr. |archive-date=27 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203338/http://www.victorianlondon.org/dickens/dickens-p.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In the early 20th century it became the home of Yiddish theatre, catering to the large Jewish population of the area, and gave birth to the Anglo-Jewish 'Whitechapel Boys' avant-garde literary and artistic movement.

Since at least the 1970s, Whitechapel and other nearby parts of East London have figured prominently in London's art scene. Probably the area's most prominent art venue is the [[Whitechapel Art Gallery]], founded in 1901 and long an outpost of high culture in a poor neighbourhood. As the neighbourhood has gentrified, it has gained citywide, and even international, visibility and support. From 2005 the gallery underwent a major expansion, with the support of £3.26&nbsp;million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The expanded facility opened in 2009.

Whitechapel in the early 21st century has figured prominently in London's punk rock and skuzz rock scenes, with the main focal point for this scene being Whitechapel Factory and Rhythm Factory bar, restaurant, and nightclub. This scene includes the likes of The Libertines, Zap!, [[Nova (Italian band)|Nova]], [[The Others (band)|The Others]], Razorlight, and The Rakes, all of whom have had some commercial success in the music charts.
[[File:Whitechapel market.JPG|thumb|left|Whitechapel Street Market at night]]

===Demographics===
The total population of Whitechapel in 2021 was 18,841.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/london/wards/tower_hamlets/E05009336__whitechapel/|title= Whitechapel Ward in London|date=2021|accessdate=23 July 2024}}</ref> 
[[British Bangladeshi|Bangladeshis]] are the largest ethnic group in the area, making up 40% of the Whitechapel ward total population.<ref name=BanPop>{{NOMIS2011|id=1237320252|title=Whitechapel 2011 Census Ward|access-date=9 February 2018}}</ref> The [[East London Mosque]] at the end of Whitechapel Road is one of the largest mosques in Europe. The mosque group was established as early as 1910, and the demand for a mosque grew as the [[Sylhet]]i community grew rapidly over the years.

In 1985 this large, purpose built mosque with a dome and minaret was built in the heart of Whitechapel, attracting thousands of worshippers every week, and it was further expanded with the [[London Muslim Centre]] in 2004.<ref>[http://www.eastlondonmosque.org.uk/?page=history History of East London Mosque] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210110847/http://eastlondonmosque.org.uk/?page=history |date=10 February 2009 }} East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre. Retrieved 24 April 2009.</ref>

A library, the Whitechapel [[Idea Store]], constructed in 2005 at a cost of £12&nbsp;million by [[William Verry]] to a design by [[David Adjaye]], was nominated for the 2006 [[Stirling Prize]].<ref>[http://www.ajplus.co.uk/b_bank/search_results_details/?report_ID=7048] {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ideastore.co.uk/ |title=Idea Store website |publisher=Ideastore.co.uk |access-date=29 April 2014 |archive-date=16 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416125010/http://ideastore.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Whitechapel compared 2021<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/london/wards/tower_hamlets/E05009336__whitechapel/|title= Whitechapel Ward in London|date=2021|accessdate=23 July 2024}}</ref> 
![[White British]] or [[Other White]]
![[Asian British|Asian]]
![[Black British|Black]]
|-
|Whitechapel Population 18,841
|34.6%
|51.3%
|4.9%
|-
|[[London Borough of Tower Hamlets]]
|39.4%
|44.4%
|7.3%
|}

===In literature===
[[File:Bangla lights Whitechapel.jpg|thumb|The Whitechapel Library with the word "[[Bengali language|বাংলা]]" illuminated in its front.]]
Whitechapel features in [[Charles Dickens]]'s ''[[Pickwick Papers]]'' (chapter 22) as the location of the Bull Inn, where the Pickwickians take a coach to [[Ipswich]]. En route, driving along Whitechapel Road, [[Sam Weller (fictional character)|Sam Weller]] opines that it is "not a wery nice neighbourhood" and notes the correlation between poverty and the abundance of oyster stalls here.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.victorianlondon.org/etexts/dickens/pickwick-0022.shtml |access-date=14 September 2021 |title=The Pickwick Papers |chapter=Chapter XXII Mr. PICKWICK JOURNEYS TO IPSWICH AND MEETS WITH A ROMANTIC ADVENTURE WITH A MIDDLE-AGED LADY IN YELLOW CURL-PAPERS |author=Charles Dickens |year=1836 |archive-date=25 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425051204/https://www.victorianlondon.org/etexts/dickens/pickwick-0022.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> One of [[Fagin]]'s dens in Dickens's ''[[Oliver Twist]]'' was located in Whitechapel, and Fagin himself was possibly based on a notorious local [[fence (criminal)|'fence']] named [[Ikey Solomon]] (1785–1850).

Whitechapel is also the setting of several novels by Jewish authors such as ''Children of the Ghetto'' and ''[[The King of Schnorrers]]'' by [[Israel Zangwill]] and ''Jew Boy'' by [[Simon Blumenfeld]]. Several chapters of [[Sholem Aleichem]]'s classic [[Yiddish]] novel ''[[Adventures of Mottel the Cantor's Son]]'' take place in early 20th-century Whitechapel, depicted from the point of view of an impoverished East European Jewish family fleeing the pogroms. The novel ''[[Journey Through a Small Planet]]'' by [[Emanuel Litvinoff]] vividly describes Whitechapel and its Jewish inhabitants in the 1920s and 1930s.

The prostitute and daughter of a [[Luddite]] leader Sybil Gerard, main character of [[William Gibson]] and [[Bruce Sterling]]'s novel [[The Difference Engine]] comes from Whitechapel. The novel's plot begins there.

One of the episodes in [[Michael Moorcock]]'s novel ''[[Breakfast in the Ruins]]'' takes place in 1905 Whitechapel, described from the point of view of an eleven year old [[Polish Jews|Jewish refugee from Poland]], working with his parents at a [[sweatshop]], who is caught up in the deadly confrontation between Russian revolutionaries and agents of the [[Okhrana|Czar's Secret Police]].

''Brick Lane'', the 2003 novel by [[Monica Ali]] is based in Whitechapel and documents the life of a young Bangladeshi woman's experience of living in [[London Borough of Tower Hamlets|Tower Hamlets]] in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Whitechapel is used as a location in most [[Jack the Ripper fiction]]. One such example is the bizarre ''White Chappel Scarlet Tracings'' (1987) by [[Iain Sinclair]].<ref>Glinert, Ed (2000). ''A Literary Guide to London''. London: Penguin. Page 256.</ref> It also features as the setting for the science fiction [[Webcomic]] ''[[FreakAngels]]'', written by popular comics writer [[Warren Ellis]].

Whitechapel is one of the worldwide locations referenced in [[Edith Piaf]]'s song ''C'est à Hambourg'' [https://www.google.co.il/search?sxsrf=ALeKk02PwU2vEUrq71kz2idNxlAhbeJzjQ%3A1599481773385&ei=rSdWX7PdFofgkgXXtK6wCQ&q=edith+piaf+c%27est+a+hambourg+lyrics&oq=%22Edith+piaf%22+%2B+C%27est+%C3%80+Hamburg+lyrica&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQARgAMgYIABAWEB46CAghEBYQHRAeOgYIABANEB5QkBhYoHFg8IABaABwAHgAgAGkAYgBiA6SAQQwLjEzmAEAoAECoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesABAQ&sclient=psy-ab], describing the harsh life of prostitutes.

In 2002, Whitechapel was used as the setting for a [[Sherlock Holmes]] film, ''[[The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire]]'', based on the [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] story ''[[The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire]]''.

Whitechapel serves as the setting for the television series ''[[Ripper Street]]'', which aired 2013–2016.