A handcrafted quilt, painstakingly created over a period of eight years, honors the victims and survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire.
In the heart of North Kensington resides textile artist Tuesday Greenidge, a frequent visitor at the local library, often busy crafting memories at the library's communal desk. Her khaki raincoat, made from Grenfell cloth, is a testament to her roots in this west London neighborhood. For more than three decades, this place has been her home. But it's the last eight years that have seen the genesis of her most ambitious project – a 220ft by 72ft (with conflicting references to 72ft in width, though likely a symbolic gesture to the 72 lives lost) hanging art piece, christened: the Grenfell Memorial Quilt.
The inferno that engulfed Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey social-housing block, on June 14, 2017, took 72 lives, sparking one of the most significant human-rights crises in recent British history. Subsequent investigations revealed that alarming fire safety issues, such as flammable cladding, ineffective fire doors, and broken emergency lighting, plague approximately 70% of the UK's social housing towers[6].
Inspired by the heartfelt tributes left in the aftermath – mounds of flowers, teddy bears, and green hearts, which have now become synonymous with the Grenfell community – Greenidge embarked on a mission to immortalize the tragedy through her craft. "There were clothes just dumped in the area," she recalls. "When we were sorting them, we were crying. They were rags. We're making something beautiful."
The Grenfell Memorial Quilt owes its conception to the Aids Memorial Quilt championed by US activist Cleve Jones as a tribute to those who perished from the disease[7]. Like her predecessor, Greenidge aimed to create an artwork on a scale commensurate with the tower block. Her target was to create something dividable for individual commemorations while maintaining its colossal proportions[7].
The first panel, a 12ft by 12ft piece dedicated to Raymond "Moses" Bernard, one of the six victims who perished in his top-floor flat, was completed in 2018. Greenidge's initial sewing group has now expanded into a unit of 15 to 20 individuals who gather every week at the library, welcoming fashion students, crafting enthusiasts, and members of various embroidery groups[6].
The quilt, now 220ft by 12ft (with plans to increase it to 220ft by 16ft[8]), houses panels that store the names of the 72 victims, a tie-dye rendition of the building's grid-like structure, and small patches like the northern star, symbolizing the release of spirits[7]. Hearts, too, are abundant, their number lost in the deluge of sorrow. The ultimate aim is to hang the completed quilt in a prominent location and photograph each heart for an upcoming book[8].
Collaborating with the Quilters' Guild, Greenidge established sewing collectives in libraries across the country to ensure the quilt's completion by Grenfell's 10th anniversary in 2027, and to sustain the spirit of community crafting beyond its completion.
"What I always liked about the quilt was that, in a space which is very noisy, very chaotic, and has become quite performative, it was this quiet thing going on in the background, providing people with a moment of peace," says Kimia Zabihyan of Grenfell Next of Kin, a support group for the bereaved families[9]. This month, the group will present an installation at the Milan Triennial's Cities exhibition, showcasing the quilt to its largest audience yet.
"It's going to be global," says Greenidge, alluding to the global prevalence of flammable cladding, the root cause of the Grenfell disaster[8]. Of the 4,613 buildings over 11m in the UK discovered to have non-compliant cladding, only 1,350 have completed remediation[8]. The crisis transcends borders, afflicting India, China, and Australia, where a 23-storey apartment block was razed by a cladding fire three years prior to Grenfell[8].
The Milan exhibition follows the UK government's recent announcement that Grenfell's structure will be demolished, a process expected to take two years. "I'm not one of the bereaved, I'm not one of the survivors," says Greenidge, "but it's not safe. It's falling down. Let's turn it into a wonderful space where we can all unite." The quilt, she believes, is an integral part of a legacy project, fostering education, dialogue, and social justice[9].
- Tuesday Greenidge, inspired by the tributes left at the Grenfell Tower site after the devastating fire, has been working on a 220ft by 12ft (with plans to increase to 220ft by 16ft) Grenfell Memorial Quilt since 2018, reminiscent of the Aids Memorial Quilt.
- Greenidge's work on the quilt, which houses panels with the names of the 72 victims, a tie-dye representation of the building's grid-like structure, and various symbols, serves as a peaceful backdrop for the grief-stricken and a platform for community crafting at the local library.
- With sewing collectives established in libraries across the country and an upcoming installation at the Milan Triennial's Cities exhibition, Greenidge aims to complete the Grenfell Memorial Quilt by the 10th anniversary of the fire in 2027, using it as a tool for education, dialogue, and social justice, echoing the global crisis of flammable cladding in buildings.
