Kilburn High Road Project

Celebrating our Stories is a three-year place-based programme part-funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, designed to celebrate and share the heritage of the communities living and working on and around Kilburn High Road, past and present. Since January 2025, we have delivered 284 workshops and events working with over 2000 participants.

Across the first two years of the project, Kiln has engaged residents of all ages in co-created multi art-form activity, including events, performances and upskilling opportunities. We have been fortunate to partner wit local organisations to deliver workshops and events across the three years, including Ashford Place, KOVE, Asian Women’s Resource Centre, Latin American House, My Romania Community, Kilburn State of Mind, Sport at the Heart, Rumi’s Cave, OK Club, Siging’s Community Centre, Kilburn & South Hampstead Pensioners Society, Action Space, Housing Plus, Brent Pensioners Society, Shubbak Festival, Salusbury World, Filmscope, Pepper Pot, Sufra NW, Kilburn Grange Primary School, Brent Carers Centre, Mosaic, Willesden Trades Hall, Electronic Sheep, Kilburn Neighbourhood Planning Forum and One Kilburn.

Participants have worked alongside professional artists and practitioners to explore the history of the High Road, while building creative skills, confidence and celebrating pride in place. Artists collaborated with include Anna Nicholls, Tanya Campbell, Andrea Queens, Roy Mehta, Khadija Raza, Farhan Samanani, Kinga Marcus, Rachel Lum, Sarah Bradshaw, Anna Short, Izzy Rabey, Noah Abdul-Razek, Maryam Shaharuddin, Zhaolin Zhou, Sonia Jalaly, Vicky Morgan, Kushboo Shah, Romario Williams, Maria-Victoria Cristancho, Anna Bowman, Ronald Amanze, Colin Brown, Carole Thompson, Hilanderas, Victor Rios, Laura Mobilia.

2026 marks the final year of the project, bringing the programme to a public-facing and exciting conclusion with the Kilburn High Road Festival. The focus of the festival is on sharing this work publicly, animating spaces along he High Road and inviting wider audiences to experience Kilburn’s stories and cultural heritage.

The project has been supported by the Community Advisory Board; 12 key local stakeholders including teachers, business owners, artists and active residents. The board have informed decision making on programming and marketing.

Photos by Harry Plowden, taken during pilot projects. From left to right: Kiln masterclasses, Tickets Teas & Tours, Kiln masterclasses, Move at the movies