The Real Faces of the Royal Borough Exhibition

2 May – 15 September 2023

Portrait of Irfan by Nevada Lynn. The Real Faces of the Royal Borough brings together digital portraiture by professional Canadian artist Nevada Lynn and research on housing, displacement and gentrification conducted by geographer (and life-long Kensington resident) Sharda Rozena. The exhibition highlights twelve people who experience or have experienced displacement, gentrification, and other housing injustices in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea- a borough associated with the mega-rich, empty homes and since 2017 the Grenfell Tower fire.

We ask the question, who does Kensington and Chelsea belong too? Especially when there are ongoing tensions and fractured geographies around ownership and space in the Royal Borough. Together we highlight the people who are negatively impacted by this ongoing gentrification, which include displacement, transient community, high costs of living and unaffordable rents. The portraits give these housing issues a human face.

Visiting the Exhibition

Located on the Ground Floor of the David Wilson Library, the exhibition is located in public areas of the building and can be viewed during our Opening Hours. Entry to the Library is free but security controlled. Visitors without a current Library card can ask for admission to the exhibition at reception during staffed hours (8am to 9pm, Monday to Friday; 9am to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday - excludes public holidays and University closure days).

This exhibition was funded by ESRC Impact Acceleration Account 2019: Leicester (ES/T501967/1).

For more information visit The Real Faces of the Royal Borough project website.