The ward of Bunhill, located in South Islington, is an area of London full of the most fascinating history. Just outside the City Walls, this part of Finsbury was once an area for the ill and destitute. Long gone is St. Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics and instead exists a thriving ward full of shops, restaurants, businesses, schools, community hubs and housing in this populated part of Islington.
Nestled within the ward is Bunhill Fields, a Nonconformist burial ground opened in 1665, the final resting place of William Blake, John Bunyan, Susanna Wesley, Eleanor Coade and Daniel Defoe among its more than 120,000 inhabitants. Bunhill Fields houses the graves of radical figures with pioneering minds.
The history of Bunhill is being explored in a new community heritage project from Islington Council. Partnering with the St. Luke’s Centre, we’re celebrating the many aspects of Bunhill that make it a unique part of London. We will do this in the form of a community-led public art project.
Over three years, Islington Heritage Services will commission three artists to work with community members, residents and service users of the St. Luke’s Centre to create a unique work of public art that represents the heritage of Bunhill. Artists will receive a fee, and in the process will receive their own studio in the St. Luke’s Centre for a whole year, free of charge. This studio will be a place where artists can also work on their own practice, with Islington Council supporting the skills of local artists, and help further opportunities in the future.
More information including the Artist-Educator Brief and how to apply will be live in November 2021, with interviews to take place in January 2022.
For more information on the project or to get involved, please email BunhillHeritage@islington.gov.uk
Stay up to date by following Friends of Islington Museum and Islington Museum and Bunhill Heritage on Twitter @BunhillHeritage, @IslingtonMuseum.
Friends of Islington Museum 