Art in Everyday Life

When areas of London are redeveloped the histories of local communities can often be swept away with the changes.

Somers Town, in the north-west London Borough of Camden, has seen rapid transformation in recent years due to regeneration in the area around St. Pancras.

With a grant from the Mayor of London’s Untold Stories programme, Art in Everyday Life preserves and re-imagines working class heritage whilst uplifting voices of the community at risk of being forgotten.  

The Art in Everyday Life project focuses on the missing ceramic figures (finials), originally created as posts for washing lines across the estate, which had tragically disappeared.

With the help of Art in Everyday Life, this lost art is being brought to life through artificial reality (AR), using digital renders of the lost finials, helping the museum bring this lost heritage back to residents living in Somers Town today.

This work inspired an MA group from local art college, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, to select the museum and project for their work placement.   

Through these various  initiatives, many of them at the forefront of digital technology, this much-needed project is developing conversations about contemporary community life and culture while contributing to its sustainable development. 

Art in Everyday Life has also been bringing to light the narratives of Somers Town’s historically working-class housing estate through a fascinating guided public walk.

Three-dimensional (3D) content is being developed for this heritage route, along with QR codes, to provide even greater understanding for the public.

This work inspired an MA group from local art college, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, to select the museum and project for their work placement.  

Art in Everyday Life has brought together residents from a range a backgrounds.

A collaboration with the Bangladeshi Women's Group amplified awareness of the specific needs of Somers Town’s Sylheti-speaking community, culminating in Sylheti Stories, a social club and Somers Town’s first Sylheti cultural mural.  

Through these varied of initiatives, many of them at the forefront of digital technology, this much-needed project is developing conversations about contemporary community life and culture while contributing to its sustainable development.