“PRIORY COURT UNITY BANNER”
BY INSA
A GIANT ANIMATED MURAL CO-DESIGNED BY THE RESIDENTS OF PRIORY COURT, WALTHAMSTOW.
A bold new public artwork has been unveiled at the Priory Court estate in the heart of Walthamstow, created by renowned UK artist INSA and local arts and storytelling organisations Wood Street Walls CIC and The Digital Story Company CIC.
This six-storey high mural measuring 160m2 is the first permanent public artwork in the Priory Court estate’s 80-year history and one of the biggest animated murals in the UK. It was created by INSA alongside local residents who shared their stories and memories of living on the estate through workshops coordinated by young people as part of a social action project to celebrate the heritage of the community.
Titled The Priory Court Unity Banner, this massive mural uses INSA's signature “GIF-ITI” aesthetic, a unique style of street art that creates animated artwork by combining multiple painted frames into a moving GIF. The mural has been created using augmented reality, with people encouraged to download INSA’s GIF-ITI Viewer app on their mobile devices to see it come to life.
The Unity Banner draws from the traditions of banner making to celebrate nature, memories and community. The willow tree at its heart pays homage to living connections to Priory Court’s history. The ornate “stitching” is a tribute to the skilled sewers who resided on the estate, and a nod to the heritage of William Morris and the bonds between residents. Repeating Earth flags at the top and bottom of the banner illustrates the lunar cycle and honours the diversity of the estate’s global citizens.
The ideas for the mural came from several estate-wide resident consultations, over 60 face-to- face interviews and several resident focus groups and workshops. Young people were taught a range of painting and animation techniques to demystify the creative process used by INSA and feed in ideas for the final design. A Priory Court resident group, The Bees Knees, established for older residents to socialise and sew, contributed to the design by creating a series of appliques of foxes, which was used to fringe the mural design.
The project has been supported by the London Borough of Waltham Forest which gave permission for the mural to be painted on the block at Priory Court. Funding has been provided by organisations including Clarion Futures, the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group which owns and manages more than 2,500 homes across Waltham Forest. Clarion Futures also leveraged its relationship with Wates Group, a major construction, property services and development company, to provide additional funding, and Impact Roofing donated the use of a scissor lift to enable the mural to be painted.
“My goal at the beginning when we started was that if I was going to do a community mural, I would want the community to feel engaged and pleased and proud.
All kinds of ideas have come from the residents, but then as a painter, I really wanted to challenge myself to create a 3D effect and create a kind of banner. It’s a reference to old Union banners, the history of sewing on the estate and in factories in Walthamstow. I really wanted it to look like maybe even the residents have tied it at the top and unrolled it and presented it to passers-by.
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I genuinely felt lucky that I had the ability to give this gift to Priory Court. I felt very happy that this is a small gesture of the power of painting in people’s lives.
INSA, Creator of the Priory Court Unity Banner
“For Wood Street Walls, we have been exploring how to work with Priory Court residents on a large-scale project like this for 6 years - working with the residents, INSA and The Digital Story Company has been one of the most fulfilling projects since we started over 10 years ago. From the community & resident input, working with the apprentices who we are looking forward to working with again to the end result, this truly is an example of co-design and co-duration in the public realm done the right way.”