Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
Creating something positive from the pain
WORK SET TO CONTINUE THIS SUMMER ON MOSAIC MEMORIAL FOR GRENFELL
ANYONE who has paid their respects at Grenfell Tower will have spotted a green mosaic flower taking shape month by month, emblazoned on the cordon which surrounds the remains of the tower.
The last petal, bearing the word “Forever” was unveiled on the second anniversary of the tragedy on June 14 this year.
Every petal was made by community groups affected by the horrific blaze which took the lives of 72 people June 2017. It carried on from the previous year’s work making a centrepiece filled with inter-linking hearts in community art sessions open to anyone from North Kensington.
And this autumn work gets underway on 24 leaves - one for each floor of Grenfell Tower which are designed to go above the flower on top of the cordon around Grenfell Tower.
Community groups made the petals and selected the words they wanted to include - love, hope, unity, solidarity, respect, courage, together, grace, change, resilience, future - and forever. They worked with artists Emily Fuller and Tomomi Yoshida who helped come up with the design.
Ismahan Egal, art therapy coordinator at the Al Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage centre near Grefell, said: “Tomomi has made the analogy that the leaves are hugging the words.”
She said since it started just after the fire the Grenfell Memorial Mosaic has been an important legacy as part of the community’s response to what happened at Grenfell.
“I felt this desire to do something out of this pain - something positive has to come - the legacy can’t just be this horrific tragedy, but that there could be some hopeful representation of the spirit of the community.”
Groups which contributed were Latimer Community Church, LCAT (Latimer Community Arts Therapy and the Henry Dickens Centre), Clement James Centre, Everyone Active and the Westway Trust, The Notting Hill Methodist Church, North Kensington Fire Service, Al Manaar, Rugby Portobello Trust, The V1llage, QPR Community Trust, the Harrow Club.
“It’s been really really beautiful and positive,” said Lisa Nash, project manager from Acava Arts which hosts the workshops.
Ismahan met Lisa in the days after the fire when she came along and made art with the materials Lisa put out for the community to use under the Westway.
“It was a really safe space and was cathartic,” recalled Ismahan.
The mosaic idea took shape and since then it has involved the community in coming together in creating art.
The next stage of the Grenfell Community Memorial Project will get underway this autumn.
It is supported by Acava, together with the Al Manaar Muslim Cultural Centre and the Kensington and Chelsea Foundation, which is providing funding.
It promises to be as stunning as the work already created and will feature 24 leaves from trees found around Grenfell Tower in North Kensington.
The leaves will feature 72 gold flecks, in honour of the 72 lives lost in the fire, or a single word - ‘Justice’ - in the different languages spoken by residents from the Grenfell community. The bereaved, families and survivors group Grenfell United is helping to come up with the final list of languages.
Ismahan said: “The leaves represent the foliage around Grenfell, it’s really meaningful and beautiful. It’s the idea of something continuously growing and evolving. It’s really the opposite of death.”
And Lisa added: “And lives have a cycle.”
This second stage of the Grenfell Memorial Mosaic will involve residents’ and community associations this year, with schools taking over next summer, with the final leaf unveiled on the anniversary in June 2021.
The Lancaster West Residents Association will be the first group to get involved - Grenfell Tower is part of the estate.
Local people started working on designs for the leaves earlier this summer.
The workshops will get people involved in every stage from design to cutting the tiles which will help bring people who are going through such a tough time together.
Each group will work at Acava’s base for three sets of two hour sessions.
Ismahan said: “We are social beings. There’s something to be said about the value of coming together to create something together, sitting round the table cutting tiles down to size.Nobody says they have to be uniform. There’s a structure but it doesn’t have to be uniform.”
Lisa added: “There’s something about its repetitive nature that allows people to talk. This is something for everybody to make together. We must not underestimate the power of that.”
She said it can help people’s welfare as well.
Ismahan said: “And also you are a small part in a big whole.”
This second stage of the project will run over the next two years.
Ismahan said: “I feel the weight of responsibility about getting it right. This is a community endeavour to share our love and support and solidarity and dignify the memory of the people who have passed.”
The next phase of the project will involve grassroots groups including those which did not exist before the tragedy as well as more established ones.
“In terms of the scope of the scale it’s one of a kind. It’s the only community memorial that has encompassed community groups,” said Ismahan.
“We will be incorporating groups in the North Kensington area and their voices have to be heard and they have to be represented.
“We are all inclusive, we are all the individuals that belong coming together as part of a greater whole.”
And aspiring photographers aged 18 to 25 are also being offered a chance to join in - with part-time traineeships on offer over the next two years.
Four people will each join professional photographer Zute Lightfoot who is documenting the project on a five to six month traineeship.
They will have the use of a camera, will join Zute photographing the community and will also benefit from 16 hours of mentoring on any photography based issue such as building a portfolio, pitching to editors or copyright.
The traineeship is aimed at local young people, who might not get the chance to break into photography.
“We want it to be accessible and challenging. We are really excited about this element of the project,” said Lisa.
Would-be trainees should send a CV to her at lnash@acava.org explaining why they are interested in the project and with some images or links to their Instagram page or website.
“It is fantastic that they are getting local people involved with these photography placements,” said Kensington and Chelsea councillor Catherine Faulks.
The council’s lead member for skills and enterprise added: “The fact that they are paying is even better.
“This is all about gaining extra skills for young people and working with the photographer will teach them about working with the community. It’s a great opportunity for them.”
And the trainees will experience the workshops where the groups create the mosaic leaves to hug the words of hope created by the North Kensington community for their own.