Beyond The Wall

Taking Art Into Communities

This transformative programme celebrates the incredible, heroic stories of Hyson Green. The initiative represents the next step in our mission to ensure art is not confined to galleries but becomes a living, breathing part of our shared spaces.

Over the past two years, we have worked closely with many members of our neighbourhood in Hyson Green to uncover the stories of local heroes whose impact has shaped and strengthened the area. These collaborative conversations have led to the co-creation of a series of murals, which will soon begin appearing on walls across Hyson Green, transforming them into vibrant canvases that reflect the spirit, diversity, and creativity of our unique community.

Beyond the Wall’s vision is not only about the creation of murals; it is about reclaiming public space, fostering local pride, and creating a visible platform for the community’s stories to be seen, heard, and celebrated. We hope it will serve as a lasting legacy, reminding us of the often unseen and unheard stories of those who shaped Hyson Green into a neighbourhood of love and generosity,

Beyond the Wall has also opened the door to exciting opportunities to connect with Global Ethnic Majority (GEM) communities internationally. Through this programme, we are forging intercultural collaborations that link Hyson Green to the wider world, amplifying the voices of artists and communities from diverse backgrounds and fostering dialogues that transcend borders.

As we approach the public launch planned for May 2025, we will be sharing more about the extraordinary artists, inspiring communities, and global partnerships that are shaping this project. From the design of the murals to the stories they tell, every step of this journey reflects the power of art to unite, inspire, and transform.

Keep an eye on this space for updates, and watch as the murals gradually appear across Hyson Green in the months ahead. Beyond the Wall is more than a programme, it is a testament to the rich cultural fabric of Hyson Green and the international connections that strengthen our shared humanity.

Let us take art to where it truly belongs: with the people, for the people.

Beyond the Wall: Building Bridges Through International Exchange

At New Art Exchange, we believe that art transcends borders, connecting us through shared stories and collective humanity. Beyond the Wall has always been about more than murals; it’s about fostering dialogue, reclaiming space, and creating platforms for communities to celebrate their histories and aspirations. As we expand the programme internationally, I’ve been reflecting on the importance of intercultural exchange and its transformative potential for our sector.

In the UK and other Western contexts, innovation in the cultural sector is often driven by the need to formalise processes—giving them names, frameworks, and methodologies that satisfy funding and investment requirements. While this approach has its merits, it risks creating a system where creativity becomes conditional, tied to external validation rather than internal necessity.

By contrast, in African contexts and other resource-limited regions, creativity is not bound by frameworks. It flows naturally, driven by necessity and shaped by the immediate challenges and aspirations of daily life. It is spontaneous, adaptive, and deeply rooted in lived experience. These are two distinct yet equally vital approaches: one grounded in structured processes, the other in organic problem-solving.

For culture to redefine its role globally, we need more than structures or spontaneity—we need the ability to navigate fluently between these approaches. And that’s where the Global Ethnic Majority comes in. By amplifying the contributions of these voices, we have an opportunity to blend the structured with the organic, bringing fresh perspectives and transformative insights into how culture is created, shared, and valued.

Through Beyond the Wall International, we’re investing in this exchange of ideas, not as a one-way dialogue but as a mutual process of learning and collaboration. These partnerships allow us to embrace new ways of thinking and working, building bridges that enrich leadership and perspective.

In this spirit of intercultural dialogue, I’m delighted to introduce two remarkable artists who have brought Beyond the Wall to life: Laura Decorum and Neequaye Dreph Dsane. Their work embodies the programme’s ethos, seamlessly connecting local narratives with global visions.

Laura’s reflections on her mural in Marrakech beautifully capture the power of art to transcend boundaries, celebrating imperfections and embracing the spontaneity of creating in a new cultural landscape. Her words are a testament to the profound connections that emerge when we step out of our familiar contexts and immerse ourselves in the unknown.

Typically, within the realms of creating site-specific work, we would have knowledge of a building’s surface, size, and potential imperfections in a wall.

However, due to the diversity of stakeholders involved and the complexity of finalising all necessary authorisations, we could only confirm the walls by the time we arrived at the site. While this was a logistical challenge, it was an opportunity to think outside the usual parameters, keep an open mind, and allow my design to intuitively transform with the space I was gifted. It required faith and trust in the great unknown, supported by the robust planning and networks created by NAE and local partners.

Having never been to Morocco or Africa at all, I initially had a lot of anxiety in the run-up to designing the work. I wanted it to be culturally sensitive and to create a snapshot glimpse of an element of a space akin to if one’s mind was to reminisce on a distant memory. I wanted it to honour the culture and history of Marrakech while being magical, atmospheric, and meaningful to all audiences—surrealist and captivating. I wanted it to mean something to the community that lived around the wall, the tourists who frequented the area, and both the old and the young.

NAE gave me a brief that focused initially on the architectural elements of Marrakech, both light and dark, both dreams and reality. I endeavoured to weave them through the imagery with the same movement as a snake or how your mind would imagine a smell would look in colour, coming from spices cooked in a tagine pot.

I created a visual referencing the architecture of the local neighbourhood, incorporating the trade of locally skilled artisans who created for the shops around the wall—the Moroccan lamps and the way the light dreamily captures the landscape surrounding the souks in its glow.

The imperfections of the wall became something I didn’t want to hide but to celebrate, akin to the Japanese art form kintsugi, choosing to meld gold onto broken pottery to enhance its beauty. As in both architecture and our bodies, there truly is beauty in our flaws.

This created another dimension to the artwork and added tactility to my wall that I wasn’t expecting to be present.

On arriving in Marrakech, I quickly started to adapt to the space and understand what I needed to do to navigate a country rich in history and culture, putting aside my own preconceived frameworks.

I drank in the experience, became firm friends with the locals, and as soon as I got to the space, realised how big of an opportunity this was: to navigate a busy and narrow street in the middle of the medina, with its unique traffic comprising donkeys and carts, horse-drawn carriages, motorbikes, and tourists, all while I painted up and down a ladder.

It sometimes felt overwhelming to have this unique opportunity to paint a wall in a historic and UNESCO-protected square at the heart of Marrakech. Yet I felt reassured knowing the risks were carefully assessed and navigated through the collaborative efforts of NAE and the complex, comprehensive network of partners it created both on the ground and behind the scenes.

I had to mentally compartmentalise the feeling of pressure due to the scale of the opportunity to focus on the plan at hand.

I can’t really put into words how much the local community helped us, whether it was giving us Moroccan teas and pastries, offering words of encouragement, performing for us at our unveiling, letting us store our materials, or providing security as we worked on, to this date, the biggest opportunity I have ever had.

Thanks to New Art Exchange, ASLNES, Ismael Chaaouf, Tariq Abou Fahd, the Moroccan local authorities, and everyone behind the scenes for trusting me to create something as a lasting legacy of the days I spent in Marrakech.

I still cannot believe I experienced it.

The amount of love and appreciation shown for the work created by Dreph and myself was felt deeply, and I was amazed to find the community as happy with the murals as they were at the unveiling.

And to top that, the local press articles about Beyond the Walls filled me with a sense of pride that what we had created was well regarded.

I never expected to receive a call from Saad informing me, the night before we were due to leave, that national TV wanted to interview us about the mural before we flew back to the UK. It was truly mind-blowing and exposed the project to millions of viewers around Morocco.

After the work we put into painting this piece in such a short space of time, in one of the most technically challenging environments I have ever painted in, I was brought to tears of relief by the positive response to its outcome. I think about my time painting a historic wall in Marrakech with both pride and laughter, and I hold so much gratitude for the experience I have had.