First created for the one year anniversary of Grenfell, the Grenfell Memorial Community Mosaic is an ever growing installation situated along the route of the silent walk and at the base of Grenfell tower. So far consisting of three phases, the project has been taking place since May 2018, initiated by ACAVA (a non profit art organisation in London) and Al Manaar Muslim Culurual and Heratige centre.

 

Along with Emily Fuller, Tomomi Yoshida oversees the mosaics. She sees it as “the local community giving back.” According to her when the tragedy struck there was an overflow of help and generosity, but it was “unfocused [...] People didn’t know exactly how to help.” The Al Manaar asked ACAVA to help create something beautiful to mark the one year anniversary for the fire, and the mosaic became the community’s way of working at least some beauty into the sadness. The art is “almost like therapy” and has been bringing the community together from when they needed it the most.

 

In the first phase, twelve mosaic petals were created- each mosaic petal created by a different community in open sessions where any members of the community could attend. The mosaic petals were depicted as twelve green hearts, each interlocking, symbolising the “interconnectedness of the North Kensington community”. Each petal was created with a word chosen by the community, including the following; “love” (by the Latymer Community Church), “hope” (LCAT & Henry Dickens Community Centre), “unity” (LCAT & Henry Dickens Community Centre).

 

The second phase consisted of mosaic leaves which took inspiration from the foliage close to Grenfell Tower. These were created by local groups, especially schools in the area, with over 400 volunteers helping with the project. They were installed in June 2021 at the base Grenfell tower. 

The third phase was slightly different from the two previous ones. Phase three saw the creation of 34 mosaic stepping stones; there were 34 languages spoken in the tower, and each stepping stone has justice inscribed in it with a different language. Each stepping stone contains 72 golden pieces to commemorate the lives lost, and these will be situated at the beginning of the Grenfell silent walk route.

 

Due to uncertainty in the area over what will happen to the tower, and the Grenfell silent walk route potentially changing, the next phase and future of the Grenfell Memorial Community Mosaic remains unclear, but their touching tributes to the lives lost have brought the community together in a unique way that could’ve only been done by art.