Expansion
The Whitechapel reopened on 4 April 2009 after a two-year project, which approximately doubled the size of the Gallery by incorporating the former neighbouring library building. The work cost approximately £13.5 million and was partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. A tapestry based on Pablo Picasso's Guernica, loaned by the United Nations, is to be included in the inaugural exhibition by Goshka Macuga. and Isa Genzken.
As part of the expansion, a new Archive Gallery, a reading room and an archive repository (where the Whitechapel’s historic records will be held) have been created. These developments are in keeping with the Whitechapel's standing as an educational charity, as a great deal more of the Gallery's historical archive and book collection will be available to the public for research purposes. Previously the archives were so small that they were only able to hold two readers at a time, and were only available by appointment once a week. The archives catalogue the very conception of the gallery, as well as the complete directors' files of correspondence which reveal the reasons behind key decisions in the Gallery's history.
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