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Press releases
- Bengali arts and culture on show at the Museum of London Docklands family festival.
- Young Londoners to take over Museum of London this March
- Treasured children’s author Jacqueline Wilson’s latest book Wave Me Goodbye inspires family day at the Museum of London Docklands
- Adventures in Peter Pan’s Neverland at Museum of London Docklands
- Museum of London Docklands celebrates Chinese New Year this February half term
- Museum of London Docklands to showcase rare Roman sarcophagus in first public display
- Taste not waste: Be inspired by unique recipes using your leftover food for a more sustainable future London
- Whitechapel’s famous monster fatberg is coming to the Museum of London
- An Idea for a Future London open call winner announced
- London Visions: Hypothetical scenarios of a future London
- Smithfield street party: Museum of London celebrates 150 years of Smithfield markets
- Technology replacing jobs won’t halt our working spirit
- Learn how to code like a pro and celebrate digital technology at the Museum of London’s free family festival
- Votes for Women programme
- All aboard for the Maritime music festival
- New display reveals complex history of British Army’s West India Regiments
- Paddington returns to Museum of London
- Bonus Levels: Artist Lawrence Lek invites viewers to re-imagine future London
- The Museum of London hopes to acquire Whitechapel 'fatberg'
- The City is Ours: A Tale of New Cities
- Tracking London’s most talked about topics and emojis
- London Nights: Museum of London unveils the city at night in major photography exhibition
- Statement on 20 May 2017
- Digital visions of London, faces of the capital photographed and portrait painting in exchange for a favour
- What does the future hold for London and cities around the world?
- Museum of London releases third and final Great Fire 1666 Minecraft map
- Museum of London acquires 100 menswear items worn by townscape consultant Francis Golding
- 8,000 years of human history on display at the Museum of London Docklands
- Museum of London displays recently acquired Sutherland drawings in new exhibition of Blitz artwork
- Mayor of London and City of London Corporation pledge support for new Museum of London at West Smithfield
- City Now City Future: a conversation about the past, present and future of our cities
- Rare tools give insight into working lives of Roman Londoners at the Museum of London
- New display at the Museum of London traces the capital’s obsession with ice skating
- Historic vessels Knocker White and Varlet set sail to new home at Trinity Buoy Wharf
- Missing Bake Off? Take your taste buds back in time with 17th century gingerbread
- Rare Victoria Cross with mysterious story to go on display at the Museum of London
- Museum of London x Craft Central pop-up opens for Christmas 2016
- Museum of London boosts Great Fire collections with mysterious manuscript
- After dark at The Night Museum
- New display about the life of ‘The Royal African’ and the slave trade
- Joe Corré, Jordan and Richard Boon to appear in an uncensored, live Punk.London debate
- People of Punk bring the year of celebration to an end
- Tunnel: the archaeology of Crossrail
- New archaeological exhibition opens at the Museum of London
- Our statement on Fabric
- New Great Fire website to mark 350th anniversary
- Museum of London sets the City on fire with second Great Fire 1666 Minecraft map
- Skeletons: Our Buried Bones
- Behind the Scenes of the Museum of London
- Stanton Williams and Asif Khan to design new Museum of London at West Smithfield
- Rare George Cross medal goes on display at the Museum of London Docklands
- Museum of London opens most theatrical exhibition ever to mark 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London
- Museum of London uses Minecraft to recreate the Great Fire of 1666
- Sir Edward Lister joins Museum of London Board of Governors
- 17th century fire engine restored for Great Fire exhibition
- Design concepts for new museum at West Smithfield revealed
- Hello London, Hello Barbados
- Stomping Grounds: Dick Scott-Stewart photographs on display
- Legendary London Stone installed at the Museum of London
- West Smithfield Design Competition shortlist announced
- Museum of London launches new website to increase visits and ticket sales
- Never-before-seen archaeological artefacts from forthcoming exhibition, Fire! Fire! unveiled
- Major new gallery at Museum of London Docklands explores history of the world's largest docks
- West Smithfield International Design Competition launched
- Malcolm Reading Consultants appointed to run West Smithfield International Design Competition
- Museum of London bolsters its art collections
- Photography of Londoners and their pastimes on show at Museum of London
- New research to shed fresh light on the impact of industrialisation
- Looking for Londoners and Show Space
- Met Police’s Crime Museum revealed at Museum of London
- Five Museum of London apprentices appointed
- Another record-breaking year for the Museum of London
Whitechapel's famous monster fatberg is coming to the Museum of London
12 December 2017
The only remaining piece of the enormous fatberg discovered under London’s streets is to be displayed at the Museum of London as part of their year-long season, City Now City Future. Sucked from the Victorian sewers of Whitechapel, the now infamous fatberg will be on show in the museum in 2018.
Having hit the headlines in more than 115 countries, the monster fatberg has become London’s newest celebrity and has fascinated and disgusted people all over the world. The Whitechapel fatberg was one of the largest ever found in London, weighing a colossal 130 tonnes, the equivalent of 11 double decker buses and stretching over 250 metres – six metres longer than Tower Bridge. The foul blockage was a congealed mass of fat, oil, grease, wet wipes and sanitary products. The existence of this fatberg highlights the pressures fat and modern rubbish are putting on London’s historic infrastructures and is a comment on our increasingly disposable society.
The Museum of London’s year long season City Now City Future discusses similar issues around modern day living. By the year 2050, over 70% of the world’s population will be living in urban environments. This rapid increase in population places even more pressure on infrastructures. Coined in London, the vivid term ‘fatberg’ is now used by cities throughout the world to draw attention to a common menace.
Seeking to solve this problem, Thames Water has now converted most of the Whitechapel fatberg into biodiesel, turning a nauseating waste problem into a cleaner-burning, greenhouse gas reducing fuel which will benefit the environment.
Vyki Sparkes, Curator of Social and Working History at the Museum of London, said:
The Whitechapel fatberg will be one of the most fascinating and disgusting objects we have ever had on display. Everything about fatberg is challenging, especially collecting and curating it, but as the Museum of London we cannot shy away from engaging with the challenges this city faces. Our thanks go to Thames Water for working with us and sharing our vision of highlighting these issues.
Sharon Robinson-Calver, Head of Conservation & Collection Care at the Museum of London, said:
It has been a remarkable process working on conserving a section of the fatberg. Obtaining the sample has required a huge amount of ground-breaking work by the museum and we have learned a huge amount. We have worked diligently with industry experts and are continuing our research with further scientific analysis to enable us to be able to display this unusual piece of London’s history.
Stuart White, Media Manager at Thames Water said:
There is definitely something repulsively human about this modern-day monster we helped create - largely through our own excess. At its worst, a fatberg can cause a total blockage and the misery of sewer flooding. This rock-solid chunk in the museum is a vivid reminder to us all that out of sight is not gone forever, so please help keep London flowing - don't feed the fatberg.
Further information about City Now City Future:
www.museumoflondon.org.uk/citynowcityfuture
#CityNowCityFuture
-ENDS-
Notes for editors
For more press information please contact Katie Balcombe, PR Manager at the Museum of London on 020 7814 5511 / 07967 313176 or [email protected]
About The Museum of London
The Museum of London tells the ever-changing story of this great world city and its people, from 450,000 BC to the present day. Our galleries, exhibitions, displays and activities seek to inspire a passion for London and provide a sense of the vibrancy that makes the city such a unique place.
The museum is open daily 10am – 6pm and is FREE to all, and you can explore the Museum of London with collections online – home to 90,000 objects with more being added.
www.museumoflondon.org.uk
Thames Water – Bin it – don’t block it
Thames Water’s campaign ‘Bin it – don’t block it’ encourages Londoners to only flush the three P’s: poo, pee and toilet paper. Cooking fats, oil and grease should also be binned and never poured down the sink. Find out more here http://binit.thameswater.co.uk/