Londoners are being invited to see sugar in a different light next week, as a new free contemporary art exhibition opens for one night only in East London.
Beneath Sweetness lands on Thursday 5 March 2026 at the Neuron Pod, bringing together sculpture, artistic works and public conversation to explore how sugar shows up in daily life, not just on our plates, but in culture, social habits and the systems that shape what we buy.
The exhibition is a collaboration between contemporary artist Lindsay Servian and Action on Salt & Sugar, the public health charity based at Queen Mary University of London. It is designed as an immersive, reflective experience, with space for visitors to respond to what they encounter and share their views. The aim is to make visible what can otherwise feel invisible: sugar’s role as a commercial determinant of health, influenced by product formulation, promotion and everyday environments.
Servian says the exhibition is about stepping back from sugar’s familiar glow.
“Sugar is everywhere, not just in our food, but in our rituals, our relationships, and the stories we’re sold about what a ‘treat’ looks like. Beneath Sweetness is about holding up a mirror to that world and giving people space to respond honestly to what they see and feel.”
Action on Salt & Sugar hopes the event helps shift the conversation beyond personal willpower and individual blame.
Dr Kawther Hashem explains,
“Sugar isn’t simply an individual choice. It’s shaped by the products available to us, the marketing we’re exposed to, and the environments we live and work in. This exhibition helps make visible the structural role sugar plays in everyday life, and why tackling it matters for public health.”
The Neuron Pod, an award-winning venue, will host the show between 5pm and 8pm, with visitors asked to pre-book a one-hour slot to attend at 5pm, 6pm or 7pm. The event is open to everyone, including members of the public, health professionals, university staff and students, and NGO and community partners.
After the exhibition, there will be a networking and discussion space where attendees can connect and continue the conversation, whether that is about the creative work on display, the food environment we live in, or what meaningful change could look like in practice.
It is rare to see an art event framed so explicitly around public health and the commercial forces behind everyday consumption. By placing these questions in a gallery-style setting, Beneath Sweetness is aiming to meet people somewhere different, away from lectures and headlines, and closer to the feelings and contradictions many of us have about food, reward, stress and choice.
Event details
Thursday 5 March 2026, 5pm to 8pm (pre-book a one-hour time slot: 5pm, 6pm or 7pm) –
The Neuron Pod, 26-6 Newark St, London E1 2AT
Free entry, advance booking required
