When out for a walk, I often take photos of things then research them when I get home. Here is a pocket park that I was to learn comes with a tragic ending.
This is pocket park in Hoxton was orchestrated by a woman who died on the other side of London, in the Grenfell Tower disaster. Khadija Saye was a Gambian-British photographer who worked in a gallery next to the garden, at the art charity PEER, and played a significant role in the creation of the pocket park, with new trees, seating and the riot of planting that climbs up the wall.
She was also involved in the commissioning process for the slowly rotating pedestal clock with the artwork by Chris Ofili.
The garden originally didn’t have a name, being something that PEER designed in 2016 for the local community. It was renamed Khadija’s Garden following her death.
It’s not a park to sit in, but one to look at, while sitting on the benches next to it. The planting is a broad mix that gives it a vibrancy that is accentuated by being built upon a slope.
As is so often their function, the clock acts as a local landmark, and an easy to find meeting point.
Last year, works of art were sold by Christie’s to raise money for the same charity that helped her become an artist.
Her Twitter account is still active, with the final post on 12th June 2017, just two days before she died in the home she shared with her mother, in Grenfell Tower.
A sad and joyful story at the same time. Thanks for sharing.
Very moving.
Thank you