Humanitarian Aid Memorial Sculpture Proposed for Gunnersbury Park
Sculptor was associated with the Young British Artists of the late eighties
A visualisation of the statue from the presentation to Kenwood
June 23, 2023
A proposal is being made to install a sculpture in Gunnersbury Park by Michael Landy who is regarded as being part of the Young British Artists movement which rose to prominence in the late eighties.
The management of the park is holding a consultation on bringing the memorial statue to Humanitarian Aid saying that both Hounslow and Ealing Councils are supportive of the idea.
It would be the first permanent memorial to humanitarian workers and would aim to give relatives, friends and colleagues a dedicated place close to the Round Pond to gather and reflect on their loved ones’ sacrifices and celebrate their work.
The Humanitarian Committee intends to gift the memorial to the Gunnersbury Estate alongside an endowment fund that would be used to pay for care and maintenance of the installation.
London born artist Michael Landy, CBE RA has been commissioned for the project. He is known for the seminal work, Breakdown, 2001, in which he methodically catalogued and destroyed all of his possessions in a disused department store on Oxford Street. Landy was commissioned by Art on the Underground to develop Acts of Kindness, 2011.
He has developed the memorial design through collaboration with the Committee and CAS*C. His proposal is for a work of art that creates a space for people to walk around, through and become a part of and would be the artist’s first publicly sited work.
Additionally, the World Humanitarian Day memorial event held every August at Westminster Abbey would move to an annual event hosted by Gunnersbury Park, with a programme of linked events and outreach sharing the messages of humanitarian work and encouraging local people to learn more.
An earlier proposal for the sculpture made several years ago was that it should be sited at Kenwood, but the estate eventually rejected the idea. Last year, a location in Manchester was being considered.
A consultation meeting is being held at Gunnersbury Park Museum on Saturday 24 June, 2 – 3pm where you can discuss the plan for the statue further (tea and coffee will be provided).
There will be further consultation with residents over the next month about the proposal.
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