Beautiful whaling-inspired artwork unveiled in south-east London following super sewer works
Internationally-renowned artist Lubna Chowdhary welcomed the Mayor of Southwark, Cllr Sunny Lambe, and other guests for a special event celebrating her latest public artwork unveiled as part of the super sewer project.
The work, entitled Bone, Soot & Oil, adorns a large, elliptical structure that sits atop a deep shaft at Earl Pumping Station near Surrey Quays in south-east London.
The linear artwork is cut into cream, glaze covered panels, revealing the dark volcanic stone beneath. The image echoes the historic craft of scrimshaw, in which marks are engraved onto Whalebone; here they depict the striations found on the underside of whales.
It is inspired by the nearby Greenland Dock, originally built in the 17th century, which was central to London’s Arctic whaling fleet and played a major role in the commercial exploitation of cetacean resources.
Lubna said: “The intersections of diverse processes and materials have always interested me and here, many natural translations between the historical craft of scrimshaw and contemporary materials and technological processes enabled me to realise this ambitious project with the support of architects and engineers on the Tideway team.”
Tideway, the company behind the super sewer project, has been working at almost two dozen sites across London, including Earl Pumping Station, since 2017.
Historically, the pumping station discharged around 540,000m3 of storm sewage into the River Thames via a nearby overflow point every year.
Tideway has worked to divert those spills into a 4.5km connection tunnel running between Greenwich Pumping Station and the main super sewer beneath the Thames at Bermondsey.
And with work at the site complete and the new infrastructure operational, Lubna joined Tideway General Counsel Celia Carlisle and other members of the Tideway team and guests to celebrate the completion of the above- and below-ground works.
Celia Carlisle, General Counsel for Tideway, said: “Tideway is incredibly proud of its partnership with Lubna, and this beautiful work of art is a fitting tribute to the area’s local history and to the Thames itself.
“I hope that while London continues to benefit from the environmental impact of the super sewer beneath the city, its inhabitants can enjoy and appreciate this fascinating artwork for generations to come.”
The kiosk that houses the artwork also includes a biodiverse roof, taking the total area of biodiverse roofing on the Tideway project to almost 900m2 – or about three-and-a-half doubles’ tennis courts.
Lubna was separately commissioned to create a permanent work at the nearby Greenwich Pumping Station, which was unveiled at a ceremony in the summer of 2025. Read more here.