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.