Older people living in the Brick Lane area and pupils from Christ Church Primary School worked together to create a series of large-scale paintings exploring the living history of the local area.

Led by storyteller Surya Turner and artist Ben Connors, the group learned about the history, people and places that make up Brick Lane. Using drawing, poetry, storytelling and map-making, the group shared their experiences and memories of the area and found connections across the generations, which inspired the final artworks.

When I first worked with my older partner she said she hated drawing, but after a few week,s I saw her drawings and they were amazing!

I found that the enormous energy of the children enthused us all. We seniors dived in, bringing our knowledge and experience of years of living in the East End. It was a perfect combination.

It has been fun and exciting to see the impact that spending time with the older people has had on the children. They have loved it and the exchange of stories and ideas has been inspirational and wonderful to see.

Julian Morant, Headteacher of Christ Church Schoool

Frames of Brick Lane was made possible by financial support and volunteers from global law firm, Allen & Overy.  Kate Cavelle from A&O commented “as a neighbour to Brick Lane we’ve been committed to supporting our local communities and celebrating the diversity around us for many years, and we are very proud to support this wonderful learning initiative.”

The paintings were on show to the public in the foyer of Allen & Overy’s offices in Bishops Square and were then installed permanently in the school’s community space, the Garden Building from the autumn.

This project was funded by Allen & Overy

Photo credits Helen Jermy