— Studio Walala

WALALA PARADE

“Art and colour have an amazing power to spread positivity, especially at the scale of the street. It’s wonderful to have an opportunity to have such a significant impact on the look and feel of an entire neighbourhood and inspiring to be part of such a community-driven initiative.” Camille Walala, artist

The summer of 2020, as the capital starts to get back on its feet after lockdown, internationally renowned artist Camille Walala created one of London’s largest-scale public art projects – the transformation of an entire East London street. The artist’s first community-funded project, ‘Walala Parade’ unleashes an explosion of colour, creativity and joy on an otherwise grey and unremarkable parade of shops spanning almost the entire block on Leyton High Road. Working in partnership with Spacehive, the UK’s civic crowdfunding platform, the ambitious project got the go ahead after it raised a total of £40K. And in response to the positive community driven project, The Mayor of London pledged £25K toward the Walala campaign alongside hundreds of locals as part of ‘Crowdfund London’ – a programme run by City Hall and Spacehive to fuel creative civic ideas. The artwork will not only be community-funded, but community-designed too. In keeping with her determination that art should be accessible and engaging to the public it serves, Londoners helped shape the final design by voting on their favourite online before it was painted. Walala has a track record in transforming urban environments around the world through public installations and large-scale murals. In neighbourhoods across London, New York, Melbourne and many more, her bold colour palettes and dynamic geometries have become landmarks, helping to define the character of an area, energise the streetscape, and instil a sense of positivity and pride in the local community.

“Waltham Forest is such an exciting and creative area of East London – now it’s going to look the part, too. I am really encouraged to see the Mayor getting behind this project Londoners are joining together to change their local area, and taking charge of the streets with art!” – Camille Walala, artist

Photography by Tim Crocker.