Wellcome teams with Brick Lane Bookshop and Kingston on 'arresting' window installation

The Wellcome Collection has joined forces with the Brick Lane Bookshop and Kingston School of Art and Architecture on an “arresting" light installation window display from students themed around "Living with Buildings".

To celebrate Wellcome's publication of Iain Sinclair’s book, also called Living with Buildings, the London museum partnered with the Brick Lane Bookshop in London’s East End and Kingston School of Art and Architecture to create a “striking window display that would bring the book to life”, a spokesperson for the collection said. Sinclair's book was published in September and explores a series of his expeditions through London, Marseille, Mexico and the Outer Hebrides, considering links between sickness and structure, between art, architecture, social planning and health. 

The winning entry was a light installation based on key themes from the book, such as personal exploration, depicted by a character walking, and was created by illustration students Maha Shami, Olga Rokosz, and Cat Baskerville, along with architecture student Reem Ali. The display was installed on Monday (26th November) and will be available to view at the Brick Lane Bookshop until next Wednesday (5th December). 

Entries were judged by a panel including Sinclair and staff from Wellcome Collection, its partner publisher Profile Books, the Brick Lane bookshop and Kingston School of Art's team.

"The partnership with Welcome Collection and Kingston School of Art has been enriching, and we are happy to have been able to support their project in the same way we support emerging writes by promoting their work,” a spokesperson for the book store said. 

"A huge part of our initial inspiration was the Living with Buildings exhibition at Wellcome Collection, which gave us the idea of creating a 3D piece rather than sticking to a flatter design,” the winning team said. "The use of the character walking was to help communicate the concept of exploration - referencing not only Iain's personal travels, but all of our own, and how we are impacted by the buildings that surround us." 

Kingston School of Art's head of illustration and animation Geoff Grandfield described it "a great project to be involved in, great author, great book and exhibition and the diverse team of young female creatives really made an arresting human centred event for the space”.

Profile and Wellcome have collaborated closely over the last five years, as detailed in a recent report from The Bookseller.

The Living with Buildings exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in Euston, central London, runs until 4th March 2019.