WHAT?  Chris Ofili: Requiem

WHERE?  Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG.  Free to view 

WHEN?  Now and ongoing 

WHY GO?  To honour talent.  Every visit to Tate Britain presents something new and exciting to appreciate and a new public mural on the gallery’s north staircase is even more meaningful when you learn the poignant story behind its conception.

Specially commissioned to pay tribute to the tragedy of Grenfell Tower, Requiem by Chris Ofili is hauntingly dreamlike.

British artist Ofili met Khadija Saye, a young artist and photographer in 2017 when they were both exhibiting in Venice.  One month later Saye died in the Grenfell Fire. 

Deeply affected by the tragedy and recalling his earlier work No Woman, No Cry (1998) which honours Stephen Lawrence who was murdered in 1993, Ofili set out to create something meaningful as a lasting tribute to Saye.

It’s a powerful artwork that can be interpreted any which way, but is overall mythical for how else do you portray fire on such a scale? 

“I wanted to keep alive collective memories of events that might otherwise completely fade away in time’, says Turner prize winner Ofili who now lives and works in Trinidad.

The atmospheric mural portrays loss, despair and redemption and is a lasting memorial to all who lost loved ones in Grenfell.

IN THE KNOW Gambian/British artist, photographer and activist Khadija Saye was just 24 and had a promising future ahead of her, when she perished in the Grenfell fire.

She was invited to exhibit a series of self portraits in the Diaspora Pavilion at the Venice Biennale when she met Ofili.  One of those photographic portraits is now in Tate’s collection.