Brixton has a brilliant new addition to its visual landscape with the unveiling of the new ‘Brixton Baby’ mural on Valencia Place in commemoration of the Brixton Uprisings of ’81. Brixton has long been established as one of London’s most popular cultural destinations through its fascinating heritage, history and the people rooted here. A hub of vivacity and diversity, Brixton is characterised by and has been popularised through the extensive and varied establishments found in the local area, it’s creative community and of course it’s signature street art and murals.
81 Acts of Exuberant Defiance is a community initiated cultural programme to mark the 40th anniversary of the Brixton ‘81 uprisings, where black communities confronted police against a backdrop of racism, recession and unemployment. 81 launches in April 2021 with an ambitious cultural programme that delivers community wide interventions and holds spaces of creation that mobilise participation, remembering and expression for communities in Brixton and beyond.
In 2020 the Brixton Project worked with artists Create Not Destroy on the now iconic Ty mural in Valentia Place. Ty was a much-loved local MC, producer and hip-hop artist who sadly lost his life to coronavirus last year. Ty, born Benedict Chijioke, lived in Brixton for many years. The huge mural serves as a permanent memorial to a local hero and legend. Indeed, his legacy lives on through the Pass the Torch Foundation which supports independent black music artists with annual bursaries in Ty’s name.
Create Not Destroy has partnered with The Brixton Project once again along with Apple and Snakes to create the new ‘Brixton Baby’ mural on Valencia Place. The mural hopes to continue Ty’s legacy and features a lyric from Ty’s infamous song ‘Brixton Baby.’ The design celebrates Ty, his lyrics and what it means to come from Brixton. The montage style of the mural highlights some of the culturally significant people, places and events dear to Brixton: from Windrush to David Bowie, The Brixton Pound to Windrush. The bold and colourful design will be a visible gateway to Valentia place and contribute to the continuing development Brixton’s renowned street art scene.
Create Not Destroy had this to say about the new mural they created:
“We at Create Not Destroy would like to say thank you to @applesandsnakes @brixtonproject for asking us to get involved in this art project as part of 81 Acts, a commemoration of the Brixton Uprisings of 1981and to @networkrail for giving us the permission for the wall.
@applesandsnakes asked us if we come up with a design which was dedicated to Ty’s @tymusical lyrics that would be painted on one of the selected walls in Brixton so we came up with a design which had a set of lyrics from one of Ty’s tracks called ‘Brixton Baby’. We submitted which was liked by all parties BUT then I had this idea for doing the ‘ postcard style ‘ which was an idea that we’ve always liked and thought scrap the original idea and let me see if we could convince @applesandsnakes and @brixtonproject to go with the new idea, so we sent some examples of the idea and they got it straight away, so we came up with final design and was given the
So in the design we include elements of the #windrush #davidbowie #bonmarche #morris #thebrixtonuprising #astoria #brixtontopcats #brixtonuprising #uprising #ty #cherrygroce and an ode to many of the beautiful elements that make up the tapestry of Brixton. Hopefully when you see the actual mural you’ll be able to work them all out.
#brixton #art #graffiti #muralart #mural #artwork #streetart #culture #history #london #lyrics #Brixton Pound #81 Acts
For more information, please visit:
@icreatenotdestroy
@thebrixtonproject
@applesandsnakes
