Preserving the
Wall of Truth
Maxilla's 'Wall of Truth' is now a memorial space where art and community unite to honor Grenfell victims and promote healing through Hope Gardens W10.
A place of Resilience, Healing and Hope:
Preserving the Legacy of Grenfell
In the days, weeks and months following the tragic events at Grenfell Tower, the North Kensington community rallied together to support the bereaved and to demand justice. An important part of this outpouring of emotion was channeled into artistic expressions in the public realm.
Maxilla became a hive of artistic expression and a meeting point for those sharing their grief and frustration. A central focus for this artistic expression was the rear wall of the former ‘Bramley’s Big Adventure’ building, which became known locally as the ‘Wall of Truth’. The community was invited to share their stories and testimony on the wall, in the hope of seeking justice for the lives lost in the tragedy. The public realm surrounding the Wall of Truth has, over time, grown to become a wider memorial space, with artists commissions and organic street art contributing to a space which has become sacred to the local community. Famous graffiti artists donated their work, while parents and children added their own artwork to the space.
In the years since the Grenfell Tower fire, grassroots organisations like Just Solutions 123 and Trees4Grenfell have used the space to share a message of hope – most notably through the establishment of ‘Hope Gardens W10’ – a community garden project whose aim is to “provide peer support, empowerment, and wellbeing events, workshops, and other initiatives tailored to support members of the North Kensington community”.
In responding to the community's needs, these organisations have, in the time since the tragedy, provided care and support to the bereaved and wider community. With an influx of community volunteers, Hope Gardens W10 and the wider Maxilla space became home to all kinds of activities; from gardening to chess,
The addition of benches and street furniture placed outside Hope Gardens W10 has contributed to it becoming a wider memorial space that supports the need to sit, rest; reflect; meditate and decompress.
Challenges
The very nature of the impromptu artwork and community activism seen in the Maxilla Memorial space means that the space grew in its importance as a community asset over time, The space now means different things to different people, and one of the largest challenges will be to move forward with a vision that incorporates the views of all individuals and groups with a stake in the space.
The Wall of Truth itself is the rear wall of a former Children’s Play space, which was first constructed in the late 1970s, and is known to contain dangerous levels of asbestos. As custodians of the community asset, Westway Trust has, in the years since the emergence of the space, tried to balance public safety with access and accommodation of a community wishing to express its grief.
As the symbolic significance of the space has grown, it has become apparent that the materials used for the original artwork have not been able to withstand the test of time. More than seven years after the emergence of the memorial space, many of the original art pieces are severely damaged, some beyond repair.
