Can a church still be an open, welcoming place if you don’t belong to the same faith? And how do Londoners today feel about experiencing places of worship as part of the public realm?
In religious spaces, we are used to encountering memorials to notable, wealthy individuals, but not necessarily to ordinary people. In this episode, we discover the memorial to the victims of COVID-19 in the heart of St Paul’s Cathedral, one of London’s most iconic buildings.
Bringing together discussions around secular and sacred spaces, we find out from Londoners if a COVID-19 monument in a religious space can work to include everyone, and hear about one cathedral’s hopes to do exactly that.
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Presenter: Aindrea Emelife, Curator of Modern and Contemporary at MOWAA (Museum of West African Art).
Contributors: Debbie Weekes-Barnard, Deputy Mayor, Communities and Social Justice; Dr Paula Gooder, Canon Chancellor at St Paul’s Cathedral; Jasvir Singh, Founder of South Asian Heritage Month, family barrister, and activist; Mark Sapaen, St Barnabas Church, Walthamstow.
Produced by Sylvie Carlos. Sound design by Weyland Mckenzie-Witter. Hosted on Spotify. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast series are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the Mayor of London.