'THE RUNNING TOWARDS'
With London Fire Brigade

PROBLEM

How do you attract multiple audiences: local community, designers and creatives and the London Fire Brigade staff themselves to an exhibition with many stories to tell? KesselsKramer was asked to help curate an exhibition for the London Design Festival in an unusual location: a working fire station in Shoreditch. This was on behalf of the London Fire brigade.

SOLUTION

KesselsKramer collaborated with Studio Sutherl& and Tom Sharp, amongst others, for a show titled ‘The Running Towards’. This exhibition celebrated an unflinching embodiment of the firefighters’ bravery, with the further aim of inspiring the multiple-audiences to look for that same spirit within themselves.

KesselsKramer’s role centred around new interpretations of the Warning: Risk of Fire symbol, involving 25 London creatives, both emerging and established. Each artwork came with a beautifully personal story by the illustrator, graphic artist, or designer and ranges from Jimmy Turrell’s story of his father who used to be a firefighter to Franz Lang’s beautifully illustrated cat story starring her grandma.

KesselsKramer also curated historic objects that had been collected from the local firefighters over the decades. This London Fire Brigade show marks the latest chapter of the agency’s foray into cultural partnerships for brands which have, over the years included the KK Outlet gallery and collaborations with Vans and Timberland.

My individual role centred around everything from curating, designing, art directing and project managing.

Left to right: Original symbol, Thomas Hedger, This Ain’t Rock’n’Roll, Studio Sutherl&, Paul Davis, Harry Bennett, Anthony Burrill, Sarah Boris (1/2), Sarah Boris (2/2), Sami Kimberley, Ruby Boddington, Curtis Rayment, Africa Pombo, Crispin Finn (1/2), Ollie Macdonald Oulds, Noma Bar, Mohammed Samad, Nicole Chui, Jennifer Whitworth, Pâté, Crispin Finn (2/2), Jimmy Turrell, Gabriel Greenough and Katy Wang, Jonny Banger, Jasmin Sehra, Inga Ziemele, Franz Lang, Emma Dragovic

FRANZ LANG

FRANZ’S PIECE NARRATES THE STORY OF HIS GRANDMA’S CAT SEEING HER GRANDMA USING A WOOD-BURNING KITCHEN FOR THE FIRST TIME, ONLY TO BE SO SPOOKED, IT JUMPED OUT OF THE WINDOW, INTO A TREE. LIKE MANY CATS, HE GOT STUCK, RESULTING IN A RESCUE CALL TO THE FIRE BRIGADE!

JIMMY TURRELL

JIMMY’S SYMBOL IS IN HONOUR OF HIS FATHER WHO SERVED AS A FIRE FIGHTER FOR NEARLY 40 YEARS. THE IMAGE USED IS OF HIM THE DAY HE JOINED THE BRIGADE AND IS LAYERED WITH IMAGERY FROM HIS CAREER, INCLUDING THE SILVER BRAVERY AWARD HE RECEIVED FOR SAVING A BOY’S LIFE AND THE FIRE BRIGADES UNION BADGE. THE PIECE IS ALSO MIXED WITH LONDON FIRE BRIGADE REFERENCES INCLUDING THE SHOREDITCH FIRE STATION TOWER AND ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL ON FIRE DURING THE WAR.

JONNY BANGER

JONNY’S PIECE UNDER PAID UNDER VALUED USES THE ANT LOGO OF ONE OF HIS FAVOURITE ARTISTS, THE PRODIGY, AND IS A REFERENCE TO THEIR 1992 TRACK, FIRE. THE ARTWORKS NAME IS A DIRECT NOD TO THE FIREFIGHTERS AND THE WORKING CLASSES WHO KEEP THINGS MOVING – THE WORKER ANTS.

MOHAMMED SAMAD

A FIRE IS MADE UP OF THREE ELEMENTS. OXYGEN, HEAT AND FUEL. EACH IS NEEDED TO CREATE A FIRE, AND THIS HAS INSPIRED MOHAMMED TO LOOK AT A SOCIO-POLITICAL FIRE WHICH BURNT THROUGH THE 70S AND 80S. HIS DESIGN CELEBRATES THE POLITICAL FIRE THAT ERUPTED AFTER ALTAB ALI’S RACIALLY MOTIVATED MURDER, A KEY PART IN THE BRITISH-BANGLADESHI HISTORY, IDENTITY AND RELATIONSHIP WITH ACTIVISM.

JASMIN SEHRA

JASMIN PLAYS WITH LETTERING STYLES TO ENGAGE THE VIEWER IN THE MESSAGE, AND COMBINES RED AND BLACK TO COMMUNICATE THE POWER OF FIREFIGHTERS.

SAMI KIMBERLEY

WHERE THERE IS FIRE, THERE ARE HEROES. THIS PIECE LOOKS TO NATURE AS ANOTHER SOURCE OF DEFIANCE AGAINST THE FIERCENESS OF FIRE; AS MUCH LIKE OUR FIREFIGHTERS, THESE PLANTS PROVIDE HOPE.

JENNIFER WHITWORTH

JENNIFER'S APPROACH IS INSPIRED BY THE BRAVERY OF FIRE PEOPLE AS THEY WILLINGLY ENTER A SCENE THAT IS LIFE-THREATENING, BUSY AND CHAOTIC. THIS SITUATION REQUIRES THE USE OF ALL SENSES, AND SO THE VISUAL APPROACH IS LOUD AND DISTORTED.

INGA ZIEMELE

FIRE HAS NO FEARS, WITH ONE EXCEPTION - LONDON FIRE BRIGADE.

MOUTH FOUNTAIN

MOUTH FOUNTAIN

'THE RUNNING TOWARDS'
With London Fire Brigade

'THE RUNNING TOWARDS' With London Fire Brigade

'THE RUNNING TOWARDS'
With London Fire Brigade