Grenfell Tower was a 24 storey residential tower block in North Kensington which was destroyed by fire on the 14th June 2017. 72 people died in that fire including the artist Khadija Saye (1992-2017) who lived and worked in the family home on the 20th floor. In 2017 she was chosen to exhibit her work at the Venice Biennale art festival.
This large mural on the walls of the Tate Britain is by Chris Ofili who had met Saye in Venice. It is entitled Requiem 2023. I thought it would be appropriate to post these photos of the mural this week. I have included information about the work
The fire spread too quickly for people to escape from the tower. Due to flammable cladding that had been added to the outside of the building, the fire from one flat which should have been contained was able to spread via the outside cladding. To my knowledge no one has yet been held responsible for this tragedy. Meanwhile arguments are ongoing about who should pay for the removal of cladding from other tower blocks.
