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Video diary
planting the lakanal memorial orchard
- Where:
- Scaux Garden Estate, SE5
- When:
- 23rd August 2008
- What:
- Community Project
This project is jointly supported by Scaux Gardens Tenants and Residents Association and the SLG.
The idea for the memorial garden came from people who live on Sceaux Gardens estate following the fire. A small community garden already sits at the bottom of the block. After the tragedy, people laid bouquets of flowers in an area nearby, as the garden area lay behind the official police cordon.
Families have been continuing to water the plants here with permission from the local police who are protecting the site. We hope this garden can provide a space in the future where people can come and tend plants year round as a permanent living memorial to the memory of the six victims of the terrible fire. We are talking together with the children about the planting six trees.
The building with its black holes is so ugly and is likely to remain inaccessible for quite some time. The idea is to create something beautiful that brings people together. Children from the estate will be the ones leading on this project, as they have done previously.
The South London Gallery has been working directly with families from Sceaux Gardens estate for over two and a half years now. We secured funding from the Big Lottery to run a three-year project on the estate called Making Play.