The murals were created by a group of young people aged 16–18 years from Southwark schools working with artist Abbas Zahedi and the Tate Schools and Teachers team as part of Bankside Futures, Better Bankside’s career discovery programme.
Over a series of workshops, the group spent time in the Bankside neighbourhood and with Abbas Zahedi in his installation Begin Again, part of the Gathering Ground exhibition at Tate Modern (29 January 2025–7 March 2027). Begin Again created space for collective listening and discussion, inviting participants to reflect on their relationship with the environment and each other.
Through sound, drawing and discussion the young people explored ideas around who they are, what matters to them and who they want to be. In the final session with Abbas Zahedi the group compiled collages of the drawings from all three participatory activities to form the basis of the three murals.
The project made me realise the importance of art. The flow state of mind people have to be in. Taking in the environment around them and producing something with such great meaning.
Bankside Futures participant
Bankside Futures at Tate Modern with artist Abbas Zahedi © Tate (Yili Liu)
Union Street – Response to Begin Again
401 Union St, London SE1 0LX
'Grief is powerful; it evidences our fundamental reliance on one another and our need for connection.' Abbas Zahedi
As part of Abbas Zahedi’s Begin Again installation at Tate Modern, instruments and playback devices were plugged into the gallery’s utility pipes and deeper architecture creating a sound composition. After spending time in the installation listening to the shifts between harmony and disintegration in this soundscape, the group created a set of individual drawings which they gathered into a collaborative collage.
'I believe that as a group we are more talented and skilled. We all have the ability to think, communicate, work together, and take in ideas from our friends.' Bankside Futures participant
America Street – Field Recordings, Where does culture happen?
39 America St, London SE1 0NJ
The young people made field recordings that captured the sounds they discovered whilst exploring the Bankside neighbourhood. Abbas Zahedi edited those recordings into a soundscape for the session at Tate Modern, and the drawings that make up this mural are their individual responses to hearing it.
'It is easy to capture meaningful ideas when ... focusing only on what's around us at this current moment.' Bankside Futures participant
Surrey Row - Sound Making, Who hears you?
51 Surrey Row, London SE1 0BZ
On a visit to Tate Modern young people were invited to draw and vocalise sounds as part of a collaborative call and response activity in the Begin Again installation.
The drawings here bring together the visual representations of the individual sounds the young people spoke, shouted and sang back to each other in the gallery.
'The project made me realise the importance of art. The flow state of mind people have to be in. Taking in the environment around them and producing something with such great meaning.' Bankside Futures participant
Abbas Zahedi
Abbas Zahedi engages with systems of care, thresholds of experience, and the creation of communal spaces for dialogue. Often uniting personal narratives and broader collective concerns, his work uses sound and materiality as conduits for reflection and connection. Zahedi is an Associate Lecturer at the Royal College of Art, London.
Bankside Futures participating schools
Bankside Futures is a career discovery programme delivered in partnership by Better Bankside and Sculpt.
Harris Boys Academy East Dulwich
Harris Girls Academy East Dulwich
Notre Dame Catholic Girls’ School
Sacred Heart Catholic School
St Thomas the Apostle Sixth Form College
The Charter School East Dulwich
Better Bankside
Guardians and ground breakers for one of the world’s great neighbourhoods, Better Bankside works with local businesses and the community to make Bankside stronger, greener and happier. One of the UK's first Business Improvement Districts, Better Bankside covers the neighbourhood from London Bridge to Blackfriars Bridge, from the Thames in the north to Borough Station in the south. Putting the better in Bankside since 2005. betterbankside.co.uk
Sculpt
Sculpt is a Southwark-based charity with 20+ years’ experience of working with young people aged 14-25, empowering them to shape their futures.
