We’re so excited to announce the six shortlisted artists for the three new murals on Rye Lane! Our Community Panel was so impressed with these six local artists, who had proposed exciting and researched projects, building in community voices to each stage.
If you cannot make the Street Exhibition event on Saturday 30th November, please cast your vote online here.
FLAVOURS OF RYE LANE: Regan Gilflin
I’m an artist who loves exploring creativity in all its forms - on canvases, murals, or digitally. While I enjoy experimenting with new mediums, painting portraits is my passion.
Each project challenges me to push boundaries and grow. My work is rooted in storytelling, often exploring themes of cultural identity, community, and shared rhythms. I’ve collaborated with brands like SC Johnson, Transport for Wales, and the BBC, as well as numerous local groups where I’ve led workshops and created impactful murals. Community is at the heart of my practice and I hope to connect generations, cultures, and perspectives through art to create joy and unity.
MURAL IDEA
Growing up in my dad’s Caribbean restaurant, food was more than just a meal - it was how we connected. As a half Jamaican child in mostly white Wales, I often felt out of place. Now, in Peckham, I’m surrounded by a sea of different coloured faces - it’s my home now, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
My mural will celebrate this rich diversity, highlighting Rye Lane’s culinary culture and the women whose braids tell stories of generations. Each bead in their hair will represent the fresh produce that the market offers, a tribute to the traditions passed down through the community that unite this community. The plantain, soursop, guava, okra, jalapeños, star fruits, coconuts, pitangas all reflect each international community that makes up Peckham.
Find more of Regan's work: @regancreates
FLAVOURS OF RYE LANE: Shiraaz Ali
I am a visual artist, architecture graduate and designer living on Rye Lane. My work process is rooted in a simple admiration for nature; from the cells that form our physical bodies to the sacred geometry guiding our universe. The intention of my work is to capture fleeting moments and suspend them in time.
Through my artwork and architectural practice, I aim to respect, enhance and pay gratitude to our environment. I work sustainably and eco-friendly in order to better our communities and the places we call home. I believe that in order to grow together, we must overcome our differences and instead celebrate our similarities to lead a brighter, healthier and peaceful future.
MURAL IDEA
Through my work I plan to create high quality outcomes which aim to better the communities in which they sit, and incorporate nature within urban settings, creating unique and representative artworks. My proposal features the word 'delicious' translated into common languages, to create a sense of unity and connection.
Local voices will be heard to ensure the final outcome is truly representative. The project will be created in a series of phases; phase 1 will begin with creative workshops, engaging different communities across the area. Phase 2 and 3 will be research and development, which will allow for feedback from all partners. Phase 4 and 5 will focus on the logistical installation of the murals. I want to create a sustainable, heartfelt and meaningful artwork that aims to enhance the area and celebrate Peckham's colourful communities, bringing smiles and joy to the people.
Find more of Shiraaz's work: @ali_illustration
Live from the Rye: Nina Grazette
Creativity has always been a big part of my personal life, however after being diagnosed with cancer in 2018, I started to look more deeply into my identity and how I could use my art to form a connection with my heritage and my present.
Being of mixed heritage and living in Peckham and the surrounding areas for 24 years my work celebrates culture with bright colourful pieces, aiming to capture people of colour in the everyday and highlight their unique beauty. Currently studying Fine Art - Painting at UAL and focusing on portraiture, I'm a mixed media artist that works with photography, painting, and print allowing me to develop a unique body of work and style.
MURAL IDEA
With Peckham being so rich is musical history I wanted to take the audience on a playful trip though time, highlighting the introduction of different ethnicities via the Wind-rush Generation in the 1960s, 80s infamous DJS such as the Mad Professor and Lee Scratch Perry. 90s house parties. The internet boom in the 00s, through to the current day.
Considering the title of the Mural, Live From The Rye, I designed a sketch based off the idea that reporters are reporting live from the scene. Everyone is dancing and enjoying themselves in 70s jazz style. People from all ages and ethnicities. The music will be coming from an old school Dj, that will have varied genres of music in his record collection. An elderly couple dance together. A younger group with their phones filming each other dance. A mother passing with her baby in a stroller laughing along.
This will be as story of Peckham and how its diverse musical past and present has helped build a vibrant community and connect people from all different levels of society
Find more of Nina's work: @byher.__
Live from the Rye: Gaurab Thakali
My name is Gaurab Thakali and I’m an illustrator and mural artist based in south-east London. I have experience creating illustrations and designs for various formats from editorial, public space, publications to music labels, events, venues and institutions. I am also well versed in creating artworks for public spaces such as a 40m mural for Lewisham borough and London borough of culture, creating identity design for Media Evolution, Malmo, Sweden and designing a whole season of posters and promotional material for Bozar, Brussels, Belgium. I have completed commissions for a number of editorial clients, brands and record labels including The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Barbican Centre, Adidas, Nike, Department of Transport UK, London borough of culture, and XL Recordings.
MURAL IDEA
Peckham is one of the most ethnically diverse places in the U.K. Culturally, the area is a melting pot, and it’s evident through different communities that co-exist together. I would like my artwork to focus on the people, where they meet, congregate and get to know each other, a music event. The congregation will be an important feature of the drawing, where the scene will be set outdoors with musicians performing and showing people from all walks of life, whether they are dancing with each other or simply entrenched in the music. The image will highlight the buzzing musical hub the borough has been for a long time. For example, showcasing the live music scene and its influence on everyday life. I would also like to reflect on the diversity and togetherness of this local area in the drawing where people are dancing and enjoying a community experience. Going to gigs and club nights in the Peckham area has nurtured me as a person and an artist, providing me with all the inspiration I need to have a successful career. Having worked on projects around the world, it would mean a lot to me to create something for the area. I want to create something special for the space to inspire others, a piece of work that each person could have a unique relationship with.
Find more of Gaurab's work: @gaurabthakali
Resistance & Resilience: Alfiah Jade Brown
I’m a Visual Poet, Facilitator, and Creative Producer with a background in creative writing, performing arts and theatre. My creative practice is rooted in collaboration, working closely with diverse communities and organisations to create inclusive platforms for artistic expression. Through my use of visual poetry, I challenge the boundaries of storytelling, blending text, image, and movement to create experiences that connect deeply with audiences.
My projects often centre on social change, hoping to inspire individuals to confront and reflect on pressing social issues. My work is not only about creative expression but also about sparking conversations that lead to greater empathy, understanding, and collective action. With each project, I hope to create a lasting impact and promote healing through creativity.
MURAL IDEA
“If Peckham Could Talk” is a collaborative mural project celebrating the area’s resilience, diversity, and unity.
The mural will honour Peckham’s history, amplify local voices, and reflect lived experiences through a fusion of poetry, visual art, and storytelling.
Peckham is a community of both Resistance and Resilience, facing inequality and the pressures of gentrification while maintaining a strong cultural identity.
Six workshops will engage the community to explore themes of culture, identity, gentrification, and activism. The project will culminate in a mural featuring a ‘communion poem’ representing Peckham’s collective voice. This mural will serve as a cultural landmark, bring about community pride, and encourage dialogue about the neighbourhood’s
past, present, and future, creating a lasting impact for generations to come.
Find more of Alfiah's work: @alfiahjade
Resistance & Resilience: Valeria Salinas-Toro
I am a non-binary artist, born and raised in Peckham. I'm an Afrofuturist using paintings and digital tools to explore the past, present and future, creating interactive, abstract visions that celebrate joy, new worlds and play.
I'm also an active participant in Peckham. Recently I worked as a workshop facilitator for a local community organisation, working with young people in Peckham to create a zine from their unique perspective, which was exhibited at South London Gallery.
I am also a producer, collaborating with Livesey Exchange and Somerset House, highlighting artists with work celebrating SE15, and a film screening with 4 filmmakers on their perspectives of a changing London.
MURAL IDEA
I grew up in the 2000s, Peckham. A place of chaos and abandonment. Yet the people persevered, building better futures. Peckham’s charm lies in its spirit of resistance and community. My mural will honour this; a bloomed wildflower meadow of actions, laying the foundations for the future generation. Platforming our elders and spaces of safety and creativity. Times when we stood up for those who could not. This is our shared legacy.
With bold colours, images of resistance, and brief text of information, it will remind us of Peckham’s diverse history and the strength of the community. A tribute to the power of unity and the spirit of Peckham.
Find more of Valeria's work: @v.mks
You can vote for three different artists. The reason we are doing a vote is to bring local voices into decision-making processes to shape our shared spaces. By bringing decisions back into communities, we hope to inspire people to feel stronger ownership of their streets and come together and take collective action on local issues.
We understand that by doing a one-off event on Rye Lane, we will be missing many members of the community who may not have been able to access the street on that day.
This isn't a popularity contest, and we encourage you to reflect on your personal connection to the area if you are not a resident. While the in-person and online vote are highly important, considering the outcome of the vote, our Community Panel will have the final say in selecting what’s best for the local area.
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