An expansive new artwork by leading British artist and photographer, Joy Gregory has launched today at Heathrow Terminal 4 Underground station, transforming the ticket hall as part of Transport for London’s (TfL’s) Art on the Underground programme.
Renowned for her influence on British feminist photography and social justice movements since the 1980s, Joy Gregory uses photographic media to reilluminate overlooked narratives around identity, race, gender and social history, which underscore contemporary society.
A Taste of Home expands on Gregory’s interest in themes of migration, memory and plant knowledge. Recognising Heathrow Airport as a gateway to London, a portal of entry and exit as people pass in and out of the city, Gregory has rooted this commission in dialogue with the community of refugees and asylum seekers currently living in temporary accommodation near the airport, many of whom are supported by the Hillingdon-based charity, Refugees in Effective and Active Partnership (REAP).
Joy Gregory, A Taste of Home, 2024. Heathrow Terminal 4 Underground station. Commissioned by Art on the Underground. Photo Thierry Bal 3
The artwork offers a space for the stories of newly arrived Londoners, displaced people whose realities are increasingly maligned and misrepresented, and explores how people carry a sense of home with them in the plants and food they cook, share and remember.
The artwork is installed on a series of 24 billboards in the Piccadilly line ticket hall rotunda of Heathrow Terminal 4 station. It brings together excerpts of a poem from the Poetry Translation Centre by Khaled Abdallah, ‘Seeds in Flight’, and Warsan Shire’s poem ‘Home’. These poetic fragments sit alongside ingredients which were discussed as ‘tastes of home’ during a series of photographic workshops Gregory facilitated in the temporary accommodation, and collaged over botanical artworks Gregory created using techniques such as cyanotype and monotype printing.
The 24 artworks expand on the photographic collage technique used for Gregory’s 2023 pocket Tube map artwork A Little Slice of Paradise, which was inspired by TfL’s history of staff-cultivated station gardens.
Rooted in solidarity, A Taste of Home mediates on the ways that compassion and food connect people, across oceans and beyond borders, and celebrates the cultures, languages and hopes which coalesce in London. The project marks the beginning of an ongoing creative relationship between Art on the Underground, REAP and refugees and asylum seekers living in the Heathrow area throughout 2024.
Joy Gregory, artist, said: “I have long been fascinated by the journeys of food and plants, how they traverse continents and cultures, weaving stories of migration and resilience. Plants are central to our being, they sustain our bodies, heart, and soul. They embody the essence of human migration, reflecting our innate desire for new beginnings – sometimes chosen, but all too often, imposed by circumstances beyond our control. In the words of the poet, Warsan Shire, ‘No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark’. This poignant line encapsulates the harsh realities faced by those forced to flee their homes in search of safety and refuge. A Taste of Home is a project that honours the richness of diverse cultures and the shared humanity that binds us all.”
