Spare Time

For decades, visitors to Watney Market have been more used to buying fruit and vegetables than finding themselves at the heart of a public art installation.

But as part of a redevelopment programme in Shadwell by One Housing Group (formerly Toynbee Housing Association), London artist David Little was commissioned to create an artwork that spans one end of the traditional east end market.

Quotes have been inscribed in the stone

Called Shadwell Soundwaves (although there's no audio element to the artwork), it is a series of six solid stone benches, inscribed with quotes in different local languages, including Yiddish, English and the Sylheti dialect of Bengali.

David Little told BBC London: "The work is for providing a historical context to the area. It's a monument to past layers of history."

David collected the inscriptions over the course of a year by talking to local community groups, including the Watney Market Library Book Group, Friends of Yiddish and the Bangladeshi Youth Movement.

One of the inscriptions says, 'Shadwell in the future, better than before, brilliant inventions'. Another says, 'Rhythm and Poem innit.'

"Irish people have lived here, a lot of dockers lived here, and there's a lot of Jewish history. I would have liked to have two years to really get to know the people, but I do think I've reflected what the area feels like," said David.

What do you think of Shadwell Soundwaves? Send your views to angela.saini@bbc.co.uk