New musical mural for Camberwell

Welcome to the sounds of Camberwell! The Peckham Road entrance to Camberwell has a new piano keyboard mural on the wall of 36 Peckham Road mural inspired by the history of the Piano Factory building.

And a QR code will be added to the mural soon, which takes you to a short history of music in Camberwell, playing clips including the Basement Jaxx track ‘I live in Camberwell’ and Mendelssohn’s Spring Song (also known as Camberwell Green because he  composed it while staying there in 1833).

The mural was painted by mural artist Lionel Stanhope after consultation with Piano Factory residents and the 23rd Camberwell Scouts group. It was funded through a crowdfunding campaign which raised over £1000, the balance of £500 was contributed by the Camberwell Society. 

The 23rd Camberwell Scouts group tweeted about the new mural: “We played a part it this! We joined @CamberwellArts, @lionel_stanhope & @SE5Forum on a Zoom call to discuss art within our area and gave our thoughts and suggestions towards this piece of work. And we love it!!

Kelly Blaney, Chair of the Camberwell Identity group which organised the crowdfunding campaign said: “Camberwell Murals is part of building the buzz around Camberwell. Encouraging people to explore more of our diverse area and attract new customers for our local businesses.”

Camberwell Murals is part of the Camberwell Identity project by SE5 Forum, Camberwell Society and Camberwell Arts with the local community and businesses. Camberwell is an incredible place to live, work and visit but can be overshadowed by neighbouring areas such as Brixton and Peckham. The aim of these murals is to highlight Camberwell’s unique identity and make everyone feel proud of it.  The Identity Group has already successfully installed three murals: one on the Camberwell New Road entrance to Camberwell, one at Denmark Hill station, and one on Wren Road at Butterfly Walk.

The Piano Factory was constructed at the turn of the last century, used as an ammunition factory during World War 1 before becoming a Piano factory. The Piano Factory on Peckham Road kept the name when it was converted into apartments in the 1990s.

Main photo: Lionel Stanhope. Photo below: Marie Staunton.