N18 to the World, 2023
Mural on Shop Shutters, N18 2XA
I jumped at the opportunity to be able to make some public art in my local borough, not far from where one of my boys lives. I was lucky enough to get accepted and soon after went to meet Kiani, who came to Edmonton from Pakistan in 1999, at his shop. I could see he serviced the local community in many ways from money sending, key cutting, clothing alterations, tech repairs and more. He spoke about how much he loves the diversity of London and his customers, saying he learnt how to say numbers in Turkish to connect with some of them deeper. He wanted something bold and colourful, uplifting and fun for everyone, showcasing his business especially related to gadgets and technology.
I guess I missed the mark initially as I came up with a concept inspired by the languages spoken by people in Upper Edmonton. According to Kiani as well as the 2011 Census there are people who speak Turkish, Polish, Somali, Kurdish, Tamil, Urdu and French in African countries. I thought it would be cool to have different words which meant community or togetherness, so this design was very text heavy, and light on the technology. I could tell he didnt like any of my designs, which was a bit demoralising at first, but this is part of the job when working with/for someone in the community. Plus many people dont have the language or confidence to talk about art because of the elite art world being exclusionary and intimidating.
I was stressing out as I wanted to do a good job not only for Kiani but also the community itself. This is an area which gets a lot of bad stereotypes in comparison to the affluent places in my borough, with a lower life expectancy. The point of this whole project called Fore Street Art Gallery is to uplift the area with colourful artworks. By having the shop shutters be a canvas, unifying the high street at all hours of the night, Fore Street itself becomes a gallery.
My mum suggested I draw a still life as I was struggling to think of a creative way to represent technology, which was clearly what he was most proud of and wanted to push. I didnt want to disappoint him, I created a still life and another where floating tech and gadgets were in a South Asian inspired frame. Im so glad that he liked the still life as I personally love still lifes and have been trying to introduce them more into my practice (ie my Sex Worker Still Life). As well as all the gadgets, I wanted to include red thread to represent the clothes alterations in store, as well as global currency and a key for the key cutting side of his business. I like having easter eggs and small details, but I had to be aware that this was being put up by someone else, so I tried to limit myself. The colours of the currency are inspired by flags of countries whose languages I wasnt able to include but still wanted to have that connection to. N18 to the World is the title which shows how this shop in N18 connects to people across the globe and across Edmonton.
A month or two later it was painted on his shop shutters. He said he is happy and that the shop feels uplifted. I hope it brings a smile to his face.