During these difficult times, the display of community spirit in its many forms has been a source of comfort. If we can take some positive things away from this situation, the strengthening of our communities will be one of them.
I particularly felt this over the weekend while I was walking along Roman Road in Hackney. At first I couldn’t make out what I was looking at from a distance. I saw a jumble of colours rising from the ground. But as I stepped closer to have a gander, I discovered it was a collection of signs. Curious, I walked a little quicker until the letters were big enough for me to read, ‘Thank you NHS’.
Dozens of messages, maybe even more than a hundred, all hand-painted, had been left on the side of the street. The collection was huge and people walking past were stopping to read and take photos.
I wondered who put them there? Was it the work of one person or a collective? Among the messages of gratitude there were also ones that served to highlight the plight of the NHS and key workers. The signs had a unique performative quality – like a protest march. They were similar to the placards held and created by protestors at demonstrations, and some signs were critiquing our political and social systems, ‘More PPE’, ‘Test more’, and ‘Do not forget the NHS when this is over’ were just a few I read.
Art is about connecting with people’s emotions. It’s personal and at the same time, universal. These sign paintings achieve that.
The location of these messages are particularly effective too, sitting between two major hospitals so there’s a good chance staff will see them. In fact, when I returned home I was keen to find out more about these signs so I took to Google to investigate. I came across this article with an interview with the artist. He’s a local artist called Peter Liversidge who began by adding one sign at the beginning of April, and has been adding more and more every day. He puts them up during the night, and in the article he said, ‘There was a car full of nurses who applauded when they drove by. An ambulance driver once rolled down his window and yelled “that’s brilliant!”’
The community has watched Peter’s work mushroom and it has also inspired other locals to add their own sign in support of key workers too.
Everyday it’s easy to feel jaded as the crisis plays out, particularly if you check the news several times a day and it’s all doom and gloom. That’s why any public show of support is important for boosting everyone’s moral.
