21st Century Slum - Life, Loss and Resistance in North Kensington

In 1976, a local planning officer admitted that regeneration in North Kensington was creating a “21st century slum.” Fifty years later, a landmark exhibition at Morley Gallery North Kensington confronts this legacy, reframing the narrative through the eyes of the community that refused to be managed into decline.

Running from May 7th to May 30th, 2026, 21st Century Slum: Life, Loss, and Resistance in North Kensington brings together the work of documentary artist Kevin Percival and BAFTA-winning filmmaker Constantine Gras. Together, they offer an intimate, "insider" record of the Wornington Green, Silchester, and Lancaster West estates—the latter being the site of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Art as Witness

The exhibition captures a community navigating sixteen years of demolition, displacement and resettlement. While new "Portobello Square" flats on the former Wornington Green estate now command prices of £700,000, Percival and Gras document the human cost and the enduring spirit of those left behind.

• Kevin Percival, a former housing co-op member on the Wornington Green estate and photographer for the V&A and Science Museum, presents a decade of photography. His work blends tender portraits of neighbours with stark records of a changing environment. "I saw the strength of neighbours who looked out for one another in a system that didn't hear them," says Percival.
• Constantine Gras, a former V&A Museum Community Artist in Residence, contributes 15 years of creative activism. The show features the first-ever screening of his 2018 film, Strawberries are for the Future, which follows a community gardener rebuilding life from the debris of the Grenfell fire.

A Record of Resilience

From residents protesting the loss of 200 local trees to voices ignored before the 2017 fire, the exhibition is a powerful testament to survival.

"In a borough where green space and affordable living are under threat, these works are an essential record of resilience," says Gras.

Private View on Thursday 7th May from 6-9pm

Q&A Artists Talk on Saturday 16th May from 2 - 3.30pm. Hosted by Toby Laurent Belson, artist and gallery curator, and Dhelia Snoussi, Social Justice Archivist for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Grace Zipki, Wornington Green Estate. Portrait by Kevin Percival. Winner of Portrait of Britain in 2020.

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Host or Publisher Constantine Gras