One year on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London, Justice4Grenfell Bradford is hosting an event at Bradford Cathedral on June 14th.
At least 72 men, women and children died in the fire that consumed the high rise flats. Bradford is joining other towns in the UK in holding a silent walk in solidarity with the Grenfell Silent Walk, which has taken place in London on the 14th day of every month since the tragedy to seek justice for those who died and their families.
The Bradford Silent Walk will start in Centenary Square at 5.45pm , where people from all over Bradford and the region will gather and walk in silence to Bradford Cathedral carrying photos of the people who lost their lives as a result of the fire.
Unique to Bradford, there will be a Candlelit Procession into Bradford Cathedral at about 7pm. Candles will be lit at the high altar for every person known to have died and a time for reflection as all the names are read out.
This will be followed by the launch of the Keepsake Exhibition - keeping the memory of Grenfell alive for the sake of those who died, in the Lady Chapel which will remain on display until July 13.
Work by more than 50 artists who have created and donated new artwork in response to the disaster at Grenfell will be on display.
One of the pieces, a collective artwork called We're All Someone's Daughter, We're All Someone's Son, is a collection of 72 miniature tokens or keepsakes, which share the makers thoughts about life, love and loss. In another piece, Tower, artist Eva Mileusnic has cast 600 individual keys representing the estimated number of residents and has arranged them in a block of 22 storeys. All work is for sale and ALL proceeds will go to the Justice4Grenfell organisation.
Artists friends Shaeron Caton-Rose and Caroline Hick are co-ordinating the Walk and the Exhibition.
Shaeron, whose piece of work Flowers For Grenfell, will be on display, says “I find it appalling that in our developed first world country, people are still homeless not because of a natural disaster but one created by the greed and carelessness of an increasingly unfair system. On my way to work, I walk past a graveyard. Every week, someone puts down flowers on an unmarked area, come rain or shine. I find their commitment to remembering their loved ones moving. Let us remember those loved ones who were lost in Grenfell with an equal commitment to justice.”
Caroline Hick, whose piece of work RISE, is also in the exhibition, adds ”We live in extraordinary times! The image of Grenfell stands as a reminder of the death of a system that should be here to serve its people. We should be very sad for our society where our health and welfare are traded for profit, angry with a system that doesn't support the most vulnerable and united in a hope that we can be part of the change that needs to happen.”
Links to further information:
Silent Walk Facebook Event page https://www.facebook.com/events/1752020948189560/
Keepsake Exhibition further details https://keepsakeexhibition.wordpress.com/
Justice4Grenfell campaign https://justice4grenfell.org/about/
Contact: Caroline Hick – bobbyhick@yahoo.co.uk 07455944998
Shaeron Caton-Rose – shaeroncr@virginmedia.com