London Design Festival today announces details of the Landmark Project ‘Bring London Together,’ by celebrated designer Yinka Ilori. The temporary public art project, which is part of the Mayor of London’s Let’s Do London domestic tourism campaign and supported by Bloomberg, will unleash colour onto pedestrian crossings on Tottenham Court Road in Camden and in the City of London in a spectacular public artwork.
London is the design capital of the world, and a globally revered cultural and creative powerhouse. The creative sector will play a vital role in the UK’s economic recovery, providing the public with opportunities to reconnect with each other and to rediscover the city as the nation emerges from the pandemic. Yinka Ilori is a multidisciplinary artist and designer known for his vibrant, colourful, and joyful designs. He fuses his British and Nigerian heritage to tell new stories through contemporary design. Winner of the London Design Festival 2020 Emerging Design Medal, his recent commissions include the Brit Awards, NHS, Cannes Film Festival and Somerset House.
This Summer, Ilori will be leading on major new temporary streetscape commissions in partnership with the Mayor of London, London Design Festival, Camden Council, the City of London Corporation, Cheapside Business Alliance and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art initiative which provides grants for arts-driven street redesigns that improve traffic safety, revitalise public spaces, and engage local communities. Transforming 11 pedestrian road crossings on Tottenham Court Road and 6 pedestrian road crossings as well as The Queen Street pedestrian plaza in the City of London, the ‘Bring London Together’ project by Yinka Ilori will make art and design accessible, to Londoners and visitors, while championing the creative sector which has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
Yinka Ilori. Photography Andrew Meredith
The project will also engage with the local community, inviting them to participate in the project. Beginning on 20 September, across two days of the London Design Festival, volunteers will be invited to paint the Queen Street pedestrian area and help bring the artwork to life. On Tottenham Court Road, a variety of events will be hosted over the coming months, in addition to digital offers, to support the local community and visitors to engage with and enjoy the artwork.
Over the last 18 months, art and design students have had their education significantly disrupted by the pandemic, with limited access to studios, exhibitions to physically showcase their work and networking events to build vital professional relationships. These commissions build on Bloomberg’s support of the Mayor of London’s efforts to revitalise London by supporting creative communities and cultivating the next generation of talent by providing them with the opportunity to work with a leading designer and to showcase their work.
Ilori will be working in collaboration with students from University of the Arts London, providing them with an opportunity to work on their first public commission and offering a much-needed platform to display their skills. Students will benefit from Ilori’s experience and expertise and will be part of delivering one of the most significant public art projects in the UK. The design of three students – Annabel Maguire, Sophie Cornish-Keefe and Eliot Everton – will be used for crossings in the City of London.
Further information for this year’s programme can be found on the London Design Festival website.
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