New colourful mural celebrating diversity unveiled in Bow
A new mural has been unveiled in Bow, celebrating the diverse communities who call Bow home.
Bow Bells, Bow Church, and now… Bow Colours.
A bright and eye-catching new mural has landed on Malmesbury Road on the Malmesbury Estate. Entitled ‘Bow Colours’, it was commissioned by Trapped in Zone One, a BAME led not-for-profit creative organisation based in Tower Hamlets.
Formed in 2019, its aim is to engage with community groups to improve the health and wellbeing of diverse communities through the arts.
Trapped in Zone One’s founder, and leader of the Bow Colours project, Bablu Miah, said that the mural’s slogan was conceived during a workshop with eight young people aged 10 to 19, a week after Black History Month.
The mural’s words were chosen by the young people to reflect the different communities and diversity of people who live in and call Bow their home.
Miah said that it was important that young people should have a say in shaping the mural’s design. He said that Bow is their home as much as everyone else’s and, as such, ‘they should have a say in what gets done, how it gets done and how it should look.’
Nineteen-year-old Tomzida Sultana, one of the group’s participants, said how proud she was to be part of the project: ‘You walk past the street and you can say, “that was my idea, I was a part of that.” If you tell your friends, they are like, “it is really cool, it is inspiring”.’
Partnering with Malmesbury Residents Association, work on the mural started two weeks ago and was completed by 24 January. It was painted by urban artists Luke Smile and Alex Altona, who have worked with Trapped In Zone One before on other mural projects in Tower Hamlets.
Sultana said that she hopes the mural instils in ‘a sense of cohesion’ amongst the community, and that its bright funky colours ‘brings up the morale of the neighbourhood.’ She added that she hopes such a project will inspire other young people to be creative.
Miah said that the mural’s purpose, to engage and inspire the community, is already happening. ‘It puts a smile on the face of those who walk by and it’s opening up conversation, and that’s the whole point of it.’
If you enjoyed this piece, read our article on street art in the area.
