Vigo Gallery and English Heritage present LAKWENA – HOW WE BUILD A HOME, a vibrant new exhibition of cardboard and bead paintings by celebrated artist Lakwena Maciver at the iconic Wellington Arch.
Lakwena’s practice has long blended art, design, fashion, and spirituality, reaching audiences far beyond traditional galleries. Her murals and public works, from the Bowery Wall in New York to installations at Tate and Somerset House, have made her one of the most recognisable artists of her generation. Lakwena's work often engages with public spaces to interrupt or reframe those environments, bringing gently subversive messages and bold colour into areas often defined by institutional or historical weight.
In a new body of work crafted from found cardboard boxes and plastic beads, the artist transforms remnants of trade into vibrant graphic paintings- recasting the language of commerce into bold affirmations and reminders of hope, beauty and home. These materials, seemingly modest but rich in narrative, were sourced from Ridley Road Market, which is beneath Lakwena’s studio and nearby her home in East London. This iconic London street market has been home to many different communities over time and is now known for its African and Caribbean hair shops and food stalls, making it a vital hub of Black British culture and everyday life.
Reflecting on these materials, Lakwena notes: “I’m interested in the small everyday, domestic exchanges and negotiations and the many unknown people along historic trade routes that have enabled me to hold in my hand a banana grown thousands of miles away that gives me a taste of another home.” Her words invite us to consider the many hands and lives- past and present- that come together in the objects we hold and the lives we build, tracing connections that stretch across time and place.
By presenting this most recent body of work at Wellington Arch, a historic monument once intended as a gateway to London, Lakwena invites reflection on how this symbol of Britain’s past might also connect with the many different identities and stories that shape the country today. The Arch, designed to represent military victory and Britain’s global influence, stands as a reminder of authority and national pride. Yet, atop the structure is a statue of the angel of peace descending on a chariot of war, an image that gently suggests the complexities of power and the hope for coming together.
For Lakwena, this setting opens a space to reflect not only on Britain's imperial legacy, but also on its entangled histories of migration, trade, and cultural exchange, offering a more expansive view of influence that includes the everyday and the unseen. In doing so, she questions whether Britain’s global impact might also be celebrated through narratives that move away from conquest and toward resilience, shared memory, and the everyday work of building a home together.
