British artist Anya Gallaccio has been selected to create a new AIDS memorial in London, located on South Crescent, Store Street in Fitzrovia. The installation, scheduled to be unveiled by the end of 2027, will resemble a felled tree from which rings have been removed and arranged nearby, representing the void left by those lost to the disease. The commission, Gallaccio’s first permanent public artwork in London, will exemplify her distinctive use of organic materials that change over time.
“The proposal as it stands is holding space with the intention of providing a meeting place, a heart for community-generated events and oral histories,” said Gallaccio. “The tree is a symbol of life. The planes that line the street side of the crescent are everywhere in the city, for good reason, they withstand pollution. They are survivors, living, despite their environment, a clunky but perhaps fitting metaphor for those living with HIV and AIDS. Hidden in plain sight.”
The project was commissioned by the charity AIDS Memory UK (AMUK) and is supported by London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, in the form of a £130,000 ($165,500) grant from the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm AMUK aims to highlight the ongoing impact of HIV/AIDS, particularly its disproportionate impact among gay and bisexual men, Black communities, injecting drug users, and those with bleeding disorders.
A panel of judges chaired by Stephanie Allen, an AMUK trustee and the CEO of Arts&Heritage, chose Gallaccio from a shortlist of five artists, including Ryan Gander, Harold Offeh, Shahpour Pouyan, and Diana Puntar.
