Eddy’s Pop-Up Book
A world of colour busts across this huge wall in Edmonton Green, the site of a brand new participatory mural led by LSoM. A nod to the nickname used by younger residents for the area, Eddy’s pop-up book is a vibrant message from the local community to all users of this public space.
Working in direct collaboration with approximately 40 local young people, through charities NYCC and Exodus, the themes and visual goals of the mural emerged through three participatory workshops. The main aspirations were a sense of hope, representing the community in a bright and colourful way, and somehow show a sense of unity and diversity in the face of sturggles with rising in knife crime.
The design was found through a process called copylefting, a concept pioneered by the school, a collaborative idea-building journey where participants are urged to borrow from one another, with the caveat that they add their own unique twist to the original concept. This approach fosters a sense of collective ownership and involvement within the group. The final idea came from a ten year old boy at one of the workshops; a giant pop-up book which we then hand made in paper during our next workshop.
The pop-up book idea helped to move the project away from overused representations of community that have become cliches.
The vivid, childlike image also contains a powerful message, as the community is represented as an open book, with many pages, past, and future, but right now we see only one.
The final mural is 25 meters wide and 8 meters tall! Taking 11 working days to complete with an average of 8 to 10 painters each day. The painting was mainly done by LSoM students and 4 young people from the creative workshops, who all donated their time to create the piece.
We hope it will continue to bring joy and brightness for many years to come.
Tara Hanna, for Exodus Youth Worx UK shared:
"This project in collaboration with the London School of Muralism and NYCC has enabled
our young people to see the end-to end process of muralism. From the initial ideas and
drawings, presenting back to the team, copy-lefting* to creating a 3D pop up version and
then participating in painting the mural. It will be a legacy piece for young people to feel
proud of, especially those who participated at any point in the process.”
