Sir Steve McQueen will showcase a project next month at the Serpentine South Gallery in London, depicting the aftermath of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire.
Produced in the months following the tragedy, which killed 72 people in North Kensington, West London, the 24-minute film includes close-up shots of the building before it was covered with hoarding. McQueen wanted to create a record to make sure the horrors would never be forgotten.
McQueen, who was born in the area and was knighted last year, says the Grenfell project is devoted to those who died in the fire, as well as the survivors and the bereaved.
"I feared once the tower was covered up it would only be a matter of time before it faded from the public’s memory. In fact, I imagine there were people who were counting on that being the case," he wrote in the exhibition guide. "I was determined that it never be forgotten. So, my decision was made for me."
The exhibition comes at a time when survivors and families are still awaiting clarity and closure, with both an inquest and criminal investigation ongoing more than five years after the tragedy. Authorities have not yet implemented the recommendations of the initial inquest report, since its release four years ago.
The 12 Years A Slave, Uprising and Small Axe director said he first visited Grenfell Tower in the early '90s. "I went to visit a friend who had just had her first child," he said. "She was Italian and her partner was Algerian. We had gone to art school together in Chelsea and I wanted to see this new beginning. I remember the views from the window and thinking I had never been up this high in London before. The viewpoint was amazing."
His father was close friends with one of the community members Rhodan Gordon, who opened the black cultural centre Back-a-Yard in the late '60s, and later the Black People’s Information Centre.
"What I loved was the community," he added. "All the people with different backgrounds from all over the world. There was a wonderful energy, a familiarity, an exchange which was unlike anywhere else in London. Also, it was cool. There was a buzz. There was proudness. You were in the right place."
McQueen said when he heard about the fire, he felt he needed to do something. "I was in pain like many other people at witnessing a tragedy that simply did not have to happen, yet did due to deliberate neglect," he said. "The question for me at the time was, how do I engage with this tragedy? The only thing I could think of was to visit the building again, after nearly 30 years."
In an interview with The Guardian, he said some people will be “a little bit disturbed” by the project. He added: “You must understand that the violence that was inflicted on that community was no joke.
“When you make art, anything half decent … there are certain people you will possibly offend. But that is how it is.”
Of the 72 who died in the fire, 85 per cent were from ethnic minority backgrounds. McQueen believes the disaster is inextricably linked to issues of race and poverty. In 2021, on Annie Mac’s podcast Changes, he explained: “It happened because no one was listening to poor people. The only reason these people died was because they were poor.”
Grenfell will be presented at Serpentine South from April 7 to May 10, after a period of private viewings, prioritising survivors and bereaved families. Later, it will become part of the Tate and Museum of London's collections.
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
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Hamilton’s 2017
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
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- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
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'Manmarziyaan' (Colour Yellow Productions, Phantom Films)
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal
Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
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57kg quarter-finals
Zakaria Eljamari (UAE) beat Hamed Al Matari (YEM) by points 3-0.
60kg quarter-finals
Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) beat Hyan Aljmyah (SYR) RSC round 2.
63.5kg quarter-finals
Nouredine Samir (UAE) beat Shamlan A Othman (KUW) by points 3-0.
67kg quarter-finals
Mohammed Mardi (UAE) beat Ahmad Ondash (LBN) by points 2-1.
71kg quarter-finals
Ahmad Bahman (UAE) defeated Lalthasanga Lelhchhun (IND) by points 3-0.
Amine El Moatassime (UAE) beat Seyed Kaveh Safakhaneh (IRI) by points 3-0.
81kg quarter-finals
Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Ahmad Hilal (PLE) by points 3-0
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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Why the Tourist Club?
Originally, The Club (which many people chose to call the “British Club”) was the only place where one could use the beach with changing rooms and a shower, and get refreshments.
In the early 1970s, the Government of Abu Dhabi wanted to give more people a place to get together on the beach, with some facilities for children. The place chosen was where the annual boat race was held, which Sheikh Zayed always attended and which brought crowds of locals and expatriates to the stretch of beach to the left of Le Méridien and the Marina.
It started with a round two-storey building, erected in about two weeks by Orient Contracting for Sheikh Zayed to use at one these races. Soon many facilities were planned and built, and members were invited to join.
Why it was called “Nadi Al Siyahi” is beyond me. But it is likely that one wanted to convey the idea that this was open to all comers. Because there was no danger of encountering alcohol on the premises, unlike at The Club, it was a place in particular for the many Arab expatriate civil servants to join. Initially the fees were very low and membership was offered free to many people, too.
Eventually there was a skating rink, bowling and many other amusements.
Frauke Heard-Bey is a historian and has lived in Abu Dhabi since 1968.
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