01/08/2020
They say ‘all good things must come to an end’, and so the time has come for the popular statment ‘Through Arts We Rise’ mural in West Hampstead.
Since its creation, the mural has raised more conversations, opinions, and drawn attention to biasses than we could have imagined. From its unexpected realisation, to the way it looks, the style and colours it was made up of, the choice in media used to paint it, the artists selected to create it, some of the participants past regretful mistakes, deliberations over ownership and who has rights to the space and who’s permission should have been obtained for changing it, what the style of artistic expression means to different groups of people, and finally to raise awareness on homelessness in our community which was its’ purpose and its ‘creators’ main intention.
It has been eye opening to see all that the mural has taught our group and community throughout its existence. We have learned that the majority (according to one of the survey run almost 90% of the community) were in favour of the mural. This has shown us that the majority of the community is conscious about the subjects of homelessness something sad and difficult to believe that is still an issue in our time and in our community. It shows how open-minded and appreciative of all artistic expression including ‘graffiti ’, which until recently was deemed as a less reputable medium, which also shows that the community is keeping informed and shedding old biases. It shows that we’re a community that loves spontaneity in the name of bringing colour to our streets and neighbourhood in difficult times. It showsthat we’re a forgiving and accepting community of all those who've wronged and are imperfect as we all are, and that most respect a nice gesture without the need to have control over it.
We’ve also learned that there is a small minority of those who see things differently and some who will stop at nothing to enforce their point of view. There have been those who have contested the mural through the media and other channels, and some who have even gone to the extent of taking matters into their own hands. Despite clear messages from the majority of the community, they have defaced the mural on more than one occasion. It is most regrettable that most recently, some of those who have opposed the mural have resorted to removing parts of the wall itself and even gone as far as throwing bricks removed from the bridge onto the train tracks below with complete disregard not only to ruining a public art and property but more seriously endangering the National Rail workers and general public.
Defacing of art is common, as we’ve seen recently it’s not just graffiti, but all public property can fall to the mercy of those who will want to destroy it or have it removed. We accept that those who have attempted to destroy the mural are also part of our community. We see their act of defacing the mural as their way of telling us, albeit forcefully and dangerously, that they too want in on the conversation. We’d like to invite them to talk to us, we are here to listen to your views and incorporate them in the canvas of our community. We don’t need to occupy each others space, together we can build space for us all to be heard.
We, Justice Through Arts the creators of ‘Through Arts We Rise’ mural, would like to reiterate that we are a charitable community group based and created by members of the West Hampstead community. Our mission is to socially engage creative people through arts in raising awareness and support towards human rights issues and community values.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported and enjoyed the mural.
We believe that the UK is a cultural, creative, diverse, humane and inclusive country and that together we can continue to build on the greatness it stands for through contributing to a just and harmonious community.
