A New Mural Has Been Revealed In Brick Lane With Albany!

April 2nd, 2025

Trapped In Zone One, a community focused creative organisation based in East London has created another mural in London, this time celebrating the heritage of Brick Lane. 

Brewers Aldgate donated Albany Paint to the project who have been supporting Trapped In Zone One with various projects around London, including this mural in Tower Hamlets.

More About The New Public Artwork:

The inspiration for this mural was from the exhibition, Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point. The exhibition brought together 75 of Paul Trevor’s photographs for the first time, celebrating East London's Bengali activists of 1978.

The project worked with residents of the Tower Hamlets community, ranging from young people to adults, specifically inclusive of locals with personal connections to Brick Lane and of diverse or working-class backgrounds.

The activities took place in partnership with young people from the Mulberry School for Girls, who are a part of the Young Creators programme with London Youth, Whitechapel Gallery and Tower Hamlets Archives Library. 

They provide free to access in-person workshops, allowing the community to actively participate in a series of workshops sessions, and community events in conjunction with Poplar Harca at the Feldy Community Space.

The mural has been inspired by the colours of the Bangladesh flag using Albany Tuft with the central image featuring Syed Mizan, Jamal Miah and Abdul Manik, all members of the Bangladesh Youth Front.

It was taken by Paul Trevor on Curtain Road in London on 20 August 1978 at the Day of Action protest organised by Hackney & Tower Hamlets Defence Committee and Anti-Nazi League.

The other images on the design includes a reference to the Sari Squad, a group of activist women, who helped to defend multicultural clubs and gatherings from racist attacks in the early 1980s. 

The Shaheed Minar behind the central image is an interpretation of the national monument in Bangladesh, commemorating the martyrs of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952, and is now a place where London's Bengali community gathers to mark International Mother Language Day. 

On the right-side there is the Brick Lane arch, designed by Meena Thakor and marking the entrance to "Banglatown," erected in 1997 and below this is the unified message ‘We Are Stronger Together’ in Bengali text form to promote solidarity amongst all.

Thank you, Brewers, for helping us to succeed in reinvigorating a sense of community spirit and physical congregation, providing a creative outlet for the residents, and getting all age groups involved.

Feedback from those involved or in attendance repeatedly featured the importance of having spaces and methods to meet neighbours in such comfortable and activity-based settings, with young people especially able to benefit, learning about their heritage of the borough in a safe and economically viable environment.”

Bablu Miah, Head and Founder of Trapped in Zone One.