Inside Kensington & Chelsea Art Week

West London is renowned for its rich arts culture. After all, it’s home to the internationally renowned Exhibition Road, where some 20 million visitors flock every year to soak up the best of cultural heavyweights such as the V&A, Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. Yet, not so long ago, there wasn’t much in the way of a cultural network organisation in this corner of west London.

‘It’s difficult to imagine, but in 2017, there was hardly anything going on,’ says Vestalia Chilton, director of Kensington & Chelsea Art Week (KCAW). ‘No festivals, no celebrations of culture… the area had started to fall behind the East End in terms of cultural outputs, but there was so much going on beneath the surface.’

At the time Chilton, who has a background in auctioneering and worked at Sotheby’s, was doing curatorial work for a hotel in the local area. But with input from the Design Museum and the Exhibition Road Cultural Group, she managed to pull the inaugural Kensington & Chelsea Art Week ‘out of the bag’ within just three months. In 2018, KCAW made its debut as a weekend showcase, but it quickly became apparent that they needed to stretch it to a full week.

Now in its seventh edition, the annual Kensington & Chelsea Art Week has gone from strength to strength. Describing itself as an ‘independent, not-for-profit cultural festival and placemaking organisation’, the goal since its inception has been to ‘shine a spotlight on the area’s unexpected and unique cultural variety across a multitude of studios and galleries, museums, exhibition spaces and businesses’. This takes the form of more than 150 events and installations throughout the borough.

Chilton also talks about the importance of connecting the ‘north to the south, east to the west’ of the borough and making art accessible to all. In doing so, the district’s various “zones” are naturally highlighted, each with its own distinctive character. ‘Knightsbridge definitely has its own identity, it’s so different to anywhere else,’ she says.

It was through connecting the various zones in the area that the Art Trail was born. This signature programme is a gateway for people to discover KCAW, and it sees a number of thought-provoking sculptures and installations pop up throughout the area. Previous participants have included Gavin Turk, Yinka Ilori and Ai Weiwei. Last year, multi-media artist Josephine Chime installed Detangling The MBS, a visually striking giant comb sculpture at Hooper’s Court, just off Brompton Road. ‘That was such a beautiful sculpture,’ says Chilton, ‘and we do have something already allocated for Hooper’s Court this year. It’s such an elegant space.’

Chilton also talks about the importance of connecting the ‘north to the south, east to the west’ of the borough and making art accessible to all. In doing so, the district’s various “zones” are naturally highlighted, each with its own distinctive character. ‘Knightsbridge definitely has its own identity, it’s so different to anywhere else,’ she says.

It was through connecting the various zones in the area that the Art Trail was born. This signature programme is a gateway for people to discover KCAW, and it sees a number of thought-provoking sculptures and installations pop up throughout the area. Previous participants have included Gavin Turk, Yinka Ilori and Ai Weiwei. Last year, multi-media artist Josephine Chime installed Detangling The MBS, a visually striking giant comb sculpture at Hooper’s Court, just off Brompton Road. This year, multi-disciplinary artist Simone Brewster will take over the space with her striking installation, Spirit of Place, which was originally commissioned for last year’s London Design Festival. The brightly coloured 2.5 metre sculptures were made in collaboration with Portugal’s biggest cork manufacturer, Amorim, and are designed to evoke a forest of cork oak trees.

Chilton refers to the annual Art Trail as a ‘signifier’, where each zone is ‘highlighted by an installation’.

‘It gets a lot of publicity,’ she explains. ‘It’s very easy to take photos of, and it kind of promotes itself. When people walk past the installation, it gives them a prompt to find out what that thing is and why it’s there.’ Participating artists are selected from an open call, which prioritises local talent. This year, more than 150 artists submitted their work, which were then whittled down by a prestigious committee specially chosen for the task.

‘The committee changes every year because we want to be able to reflect the diversity of the areas where we put sculptures,’ Chilton says. ‘It’s also really important not to have just art specialists in our committee. We want a really diverse sounding board that comes from all directions, so we can tick as many boxes as possible in terms of whether those sculptures will satisfy the community where we put the artwork. We always ask for permission from the people who live locally. We want their engagement and, rather than isolating, we want them to be a part of something.’ The 2024 panel included sculptor and KCAW alumnus Sokari Douglas Camp; councillor Preety Hudd, Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea; and Omar Bdour, founder of Knightsbridge-based London Arabia, Arab Women’s Summit and the Arab Women of the Year Awards.

This year’s theme is “changing landscape”, which is a nod to the advent of AI and modern technology and its impact on art, as well as global upheaval in the form of conflict and climate change. ‘But we always try to take a positive, optimistic stance rather than all doom and gloom,’ Chilton adds.

She is enthusiastic about the cultural significance of Knightsbridge, highlighting the unique public art in the area, such as Triga, a 1958 sculpture by Czech artist Franta Belsky of three racehorses leaping from Caltex House on Brompton Road, commemorating the site’s former use as racehorse auctioneer Tattersalls’ auction yard. Around the corner on Knightsbridge Green, atop the UK flagship of luxury diamond specialist Samer Halimeh, is another off-beat animal artwork. Designed by sculptor Stefano Bombardieri, Rhino Sospeso features a large rhinoceros suspended over the building. It is displayed by the jeweller as a demonstration of support for WWF South Africa’s rhino initiative.

‘Let’s not forget that a lot of these sculptures are hidden within the façades of the buildings,’ says Chilton. ‘It’s a very unique part of London. We love to work with the architecture around Knightsbridge.’

The Knightsbridge Edit can reveal that KCAW will introduce a brand new feature for 2024, a family friendly trail titled ‘Kids Go Wild’, which will launch to the public on 20th June, although eagle eyed visitors may have already spotted some of the artworks popping up in Knightsbridge and on the King’s Road, with the trail straddling both districts.

Funded by the Knightsbridge Partnership and King’s Road Partnership, the free trail features nine astonishing bronze sculptures created by British and Australian artists, Gillie and Marc, dubbed ‘the most successful and prolific creators of public art in New York’s history’ by the New York Times.

Their highly coveted sculptures have animated over 250 cities across the world, and this summer their project ‘A Wild Life for Wildlife’ will roam Brompton Road and the King’s Road bringing joy and wonder to all ages, but also importantly raising awareness for endangered animals.

One of the greatest joys and sources of wonder comes from the most natural place, the wild. Animals, forests, lakes, and all the beautiful treats of planet earth are more exciting and healing than anything we have created. Yet the world is currently facing its 6th mass extinction.

More and more beautiful creatures are in trouble. The reasons can be linked back to us, humans. Thousands of important animals are facing imminent extinction unless we act now. But with the same joy and love that we get from being in these magical places, we can also heal them.

With QR codes connected with the sculpture, kids and adults will be transported to important information about different animals’ lives, needs and threats.

Kensington & Chelsea Art Week takes place from 20-30 June 2024, with the Kids Go Wild art trail continuing until August. Find out more at kcaw.co.uk