Grenfell Tower is to be covered in a white material and projected with drawings by local children lighting up the structure at night. This is a stop gap measure while officials from Kensington and Chelsea council consider the building’s future. The announcement came ahead of the release of information that none of the families living in the ill-fated building have been found a permanent home in the borough.
People said, ‘We want it covered because it’s so distressing’.
The protective wrap will cover the structure from this month ahead of demolition which will begin after the full investigation is complete. The Sunday Times reported that primary school children who live in the west London neighbourhood were asked to make art that would “help them look up and smile”. Manager of the site, Michael Lockwood, told the paper the idea came from a recent meeting he had with pupils. He said: “Many of them said it was upsetting looking up at the tower when they have lost friends in the fire. “So I asked them if they would like to come up with paintings of what they would like to see on the building instead.” Mr. Lockwood added: “We considered if this might look like the tragedy is being hidden, but people said ‘We want it covered because it’s so distressing’. “It’s what the community wants.”
The talented British photographer Khadija Saye who died in the fire, age 24 has had work on display at both the 57th Venice Biennale and Tate Britain. A silkscreen print on paper part of a series of work Dwelling: in this space we breathe was popular over the early Summer period. The artistic oeuvre of the British Gambian artist thoughtfully explores diaspora, her heritage, and spirituality. Andrew Wilson, a senior curator at the Tate, said of her work, “By the time she was killed Khadija Saye was only just starting to get public recognition through her new body of work, Dwelling: in this space, we breathe. It would be a fantastic idea if Khadija’s work was also projected on the building as a memorial to a brief, talented life cut short by a council who put cost ahead of safety to the most vulnerable and poor in their care.