If Mi Nuh Laugh Mi Cry! was a 10-day celebration of Hackney’s art activist past, present and future, that took place in Gillett Square, Dalston, from 27th April – 6th May 2024.

The festival commemorated the Hackney Community Defence Association (HCDA), established by local residents in 1988 to give a voice to victims of police violence and misconduct. Through the late 1980s and into the 1990s, the HCDA played a crucial role in advocating for justice and providing legal support to those affected.

If Mi Nuh Laugh Mi Cry! also highlighted the stories of art activists collaborating with the HCDA. I, along with several other artists and creatives, was invited to create works in response to these histories and themes. The pieces spanned a variety of mediums, including print, illustration, multimedia, and soundscapes.

From October 2023 until May ’24, I worked with the event organisers and participated in the development of the festival, producing my artwork Words Will Never Hurt Me which was displayed on print and digital billboards, as well as flyposters.

Project Objectives:

• Provoke and create dialogue around the themes of the overall project, and the work of the HCDA
• Encourage attendees to engage with the HCDA history and archive
• Direct viewers to the retrospective event zine, created by Shelby X Studios

Services:

Consultancy
Copywriting
Graphic Design
Artwork

The project began in the Autumn of 2023, with a Community Sharing and Planning event at the proposed location of the festival, held by the organisers: Grace Kress of Shelby X Studios, Alicia Graham of Reel Rebels Radio, as well as various collaborators and members of the HCDA.

We listened to several speakers from the HCDA recount the important work of the organisation, and testimonies from some of the surviving victims of the injustices the HCDA campaigned against. These oral histories were impactful, moving and often emotional. I personally spoke with some of the families still coming to terms with the loss of loved ones at the hand of the state.

My work began here, as I started delving into the history of both the HCDA but also the communities relationship with the police, and how that tension had been reflected in media, primarily through local and independent newspapers. As someone who grew up in the borough, with personal experience of this tension, such narratives resonated with me profoundly.

These themes were explored through mood boards I created, which provided a route into the visual language of my project.

Community Planning Flyer by Grace Kress

If Mi Nuh Laugh Mi Cry! Mood Boards by Greg Bunbury

My artwork, titled Words Will Never Hurt Me (delivered in two parts), is an exploration of dialogue, quotes, idioms and narratives informed by oral histories, discussions and conversations based on my experiences growing up in the borough, and my own personal interactions with the police. These observations are encapsulated by prose that plays on recognisable phrases, but are recontextualised to reflect the themes of the project.

The visual concept takes inspiration from community newspapers, periodicals, flyers and protest graphics of the 80s & 90s. Taking the typical form of newspaper masthead typography of the late 80s and 90s, the letters are disjointed and overlapped, reflecting the conflicting narratives that accompany police injustice.

The typography in these pieces not only expresses, it confines. It creates a boundary in the artworks, touching on the importance of the printed word and it’s power to hold history to account.

The colours reflect both the If Mi Nuh… branding, and the visual identity of the borough itself.

Words Will Never Hurt Me 4 Sheet posters by Greg Bunbury

Bradbury Street, Dalston, April 2024 – Words Will Never Hurt billboard posters by Greg Bunbury

The second part of the artwork, delivered a more direct series of messages, inspired by the history of protest art. The observations that drove the first part of the project, are refocused into bold statements set in all-caps, across three lines. The stark composition owes much to the work of Barbera Kruger, Jenny Holzer and Virgil Abloh.

Here, the focus lies squarely and unapologetically on the message, with a single QR code directing engagement to the If Mi Nuh Laugh Mi Cry! zine. The posters were printed and flyposed at the event location, making the artwork feel more like a ‘guerrilla’ communication.

For the digital DOOH AdVan display, which was situated at the heart of the festival, I created an animated video that combined both iterations of the artwork into one treatment, connected by the ‘boundary’ of type I created for the 4 sheets.

Words Will Never Hurt Me Social Media Animation by Greg Bunbury

Words Will Never Hurt Me poster concept by Greg Bunbury

Gillett Square, Dalston April 27th – Words Will Never Hurt Me flyposters by Greg Bunbury

Gillett Square, Dalston, April 27th – Words Will Never Hurt Me digital AdVan display by Greg Bunbury

Words Will Never Hurt Me animated video by Greg Bunbury