Requiem by Chris Ofili at Tate Britain - a mural unfolding over the North Staircase.
Requiem pays tribute to Khadija Saye and remembers the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire. It offers a journey through an imagined landscape of giant skies with vast horizons alongside flowing water to reflect on loss, spirituality and transformation.
Ofili met fellow artist Khadija Saye in May 2017 when they were both exhibiting in Venice. One month later, Saye died in the Grenfell Tower fire. Ofili explained: 'I wanted to make a work in tribute to Khadija Saye. Remembering the Grenfell Tower fire, I hope that the mural will continue to speak across time to our collective sadness'.
Khadija Saye was an artist and activist. At the time of her death, Saye had established herself as an emerging talent with extraordinary promise for the future. She was an advocate for greater diversity in the arts. She said 'if you don't see yourself represented then you don't think you can do it. It's the idea of opening the door for the next generation'.
On 14 June 2017, a devastating fire broke out at Grenfell Tower in west London, killing 72 people, including 18 children. It was the greatest loss of life in a residential fire since WWII.
A public inquiry was set jup in the wake of the fire. It found that the tower's exterior cladding failed to meet safety standards, making the fire spread more quickly and leading to many avoidable deaths. This prompted wider concerns about building safery in high rise blocks across the country and highlighted significant social inequality in one of the wealthiest parts of London.
Systemic failures were found across the organisations responsible for building standards and safery: from the construction industry to regulators, the fire service, the local authority, and the government, which has formally apologised.
The deadly effects of the blaze, the toxic smoke and the obstacles to escape have been a consistent feature of survivors' testimony. The bravery of those who endured the fire that night and the avoidable nature of the tragedy have been widely recognised.
The Public Inquiry concluded in November 2022, but a criminal investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing. Survivors and bereaved families from the Grenfell Tower fire continue their campaign for justice.
Chapter 1: Look. Look at this. Look at what we've done. Look at what is happening.
The bowing figure on the left-hand wall at the top of the staircase is a prophet or witness. He presents the burning tower to us, as though conducting a ceremony of loss or a requiem. Confronted by the overwhelming tragedy of what has happened, his tears fall into a great ocean of despair. Here, Ofili traces the path of souls escaping desperate peril, moving through embers or plunging into the water, then circling around and away from the tower.
Chapter 2: Change and Transformation.
Artist Khadija Saye is at the centre of an energy force, high up on the middle wall. She represents one of the souls. She holds an andichurai (a Gambian incense pot) to her ear, in a pose taken from her own artwork. This object was precious to Saye, as it belonged to her mother. It symbolises the possibility of transformation through faith, honouring Saye's dual faith heritage of Christianity and Islam. Ofili invites us to imagine the sound of calm solace here - perhaps like the call of the ocean you hear when holding a shell to your ear.
Chapter 3: A place for redemption, healing and hope.l
To the right, the spirit of the souls emerges from the water and sky to arrive in a paradise-like landscape, resting by the banks of the water under the shade of a beautiful branching tree. Two mythical beings play a sweet, hopeful melody on their instruments. The energy of the souls is drawn to this realm of extraordinary peace. The colours of the burning tower turn into a warm sunrise or sunset. The water contains our collective grief in the flow of tears. It also links to Venice, where Ofili and Saye met. The water connects London to Ofili's home in Trinidad.
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