Yinka Ilori: British Red Cross Mural

posted by Emily Gosling July 7, 2021

Artist and designer Yinka Ilori has created a new campaign for British Red Cross, centred around a colourful 15ft mural in East London.

This is the third in a series of high-profile artist collaborations with the charity that have taken place throughout the pandemic to “celebrate kindness in the community” and to raise funds for Red Cross services. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the charity has worked with more than 20 UK-based artists who are “aligned with its mission to spread the power of human kindness at a time when the nation needs it most,” as the charity puts it.

Shirin Majid, deputy executive creative director at ad agency VCCP, which orchestrated the campaign, “says, “This Is Human Kind is about the meaningful human connections created by supporting one another and by coming to help those most in need. The mural collaboration with Yinka Ilori is inspired by the British Red Cross supporters and volunteers who are putting kindness into humanitarian action every day in communities across the UK.”

The mural, sited near Shoreditch Station on Ebor Street, showcases Ilori’s characteristic style, inspired by his West African heritage.in its bold patterning and vibrant colour palette.

The campaign, titled This Is Human Kind, will run for two weeks across out of home and social platforms, delineating specific acts of kindness from the British Red Cross in local communities around the UK. High impact billboards will be situated in London, Manchester, Newcastle, Peterborough, Leicester and Edinburgh.

“The mural is trying to celebrate community, collaboration and just being kind to others. My work has always been about community and about inclusivity,” says Ilori. “In art and design, making art spaces inclusive is the gateway to making people belong.”

He adds, “London is a lonely city at the best of times so it’s really important to get to know your communities. The pandemic really brought that home to me. I’ve made an effort to speak to new people, young and old and I pretty much know everyone on my street now.”

Ilori was awarded an MBE for his work in design, and was the 2021 co-designer of the Brit Awards trophies and stage. His eponymous multidisciplinary studio specialises in storytelling by fusing his British and Nigerian heritage “to tell new stories in contemporary design.” Ilori began his practice in 2011 up-cycling vintage furniture, inspired by the traditional Nigerian parables and West African fabrics that surrounded him as a child.

When asked what he thought was the future of “human kind”, the artist said: “The future of human kind is in our hands. We all have a responsibility to be kind. I think that being kind is in everyone, even if they don’t believe it, but I think everyone has kindness in their soul.”

This Is Human Kind follows the British Red Cross artist collaboration campaign Kindness Will Keep Us Together, which launched at the beginning of the pandemic and featured 11 artists including Anthony Burrill, Supermundane and Rose Blake. This was followed by the I Have the Power collaboration at the end of 2020, with work by Morgan Myerscough and nine other artists.