A Flight of Voices: If you could fly back in time and bring back ONE THING, what would it be?
A Flight of Voices was a large-scale, public installation created for the 2025 Lavender Hill Festival — an invitation to think about memory, heritage, and the things we carry forward. Drawing inspiration from the Sankofa bird, a symbol from Akan culture in West Africa that looks back while moving forward, the artwork invited the community to consider the question:
“If you could fly back in time and bring back ONE THING, what would it be?”
Lavender Hill Festival celebrates local identity, creativity, and connection. For 2025, the organisers invited me to create a work that would bring people together in both reflection and joy. As the festival coincided with Black History Month, I centred the installation around Sankofa, whose message resonates strongly with communities marked by migration, heritage, and change: remember where you come from, honour what came before, and transform it into something new.
The prompt — “If you could fly back in time and bring back one thing…” — sparked conversations across ages and cultures. Festival-goers shared memories of childhood homes, family recipes, lost places, old neighbourhood rhythms, and personal or cultural treasures. The installation became both a spectacle and a moment of collective storytelling in the heart of the high street.
The Creative Process & Installation
- The Giant Sankofa Bird:
A large, sculptural bird designed and hand-built in my studio using lightweight armatures, decorative foils, and iridescent materials. It sparkled and shimmered, acting as the anchor for the entire piece. - Community Workshops:
Ahead of the festival, open workshops were facilitated where participants created paper birds/kites inspired by flight, migration and memory. Each form carried colours, patterns, or messages personal to its maker. - Festival-Day Participation:
A live “Message Table” invited people to write responses to the guiding question. Hundreds of handwritten thoughts were clipped onto the installation throughout the day — transforming it in real time.
(One notable moment: the Mayor of Wandsworth adding his own reflection.) - Composition:
The Sankofa bird took centre stage, with community birds forming a gentle arc around it — visually representing collective memory taking flight.
Partners and Credits:
Concept, Artistic Direction, Curation : Roopa Basu
Commissioned & Funded By: The Junction BID for the Lavender Hill Festival 2025
Community Contributors: Local artists, families, residents, festival visitors
Workshop Participants: 25+ people across pre-festival sessions
On-the-Day Contributors: 60+ hands on contributing from visitors (of 100+ visitors)
Technical Support: ThinkEvents, Battersea Arts Centre Tech Team
Design Team
Taiwo Durodola. Art and design student at South Thames College (Level 3, year 2)
Ebrahim Piperdi. Producer, artist, curator @piperdiphotography
Serena Orano. Documentary photographer and filmmaker @serenaorano