Grenfell Tower fire: Steve McQueen to film tribute to victims

Steve McQueen is set to lead a project which will create a “lasting memorial” for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

The artist and director behind films including the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave will begin work this week, using a helicopter to film the ruins of the building in Kensington, west London.

The new artwork is being funded by McQueen, who comes from a council estate close to the site of the disaster, and will eventually go on display in a London museum, the Sunday Times reports.

“This is to record this moment in the community’s history and make a lasting memorial to the tragedy,” an official website, intended to explain the project to survivors, said.

“This would be done with respect to those who lost their lives and the wider community. The aim is that it lives on in the mind of the nation and the world long after the covering has gone up.”

Grenfell Tower is currently being covered by a white plastic screen to prevent more psychological trauma to those affected. Officials hope the building will be fully covered by the end of March 2018.

71 people died from the fire in June 2017. Six months on from the fire, four out of five families made homeless are still searching for permanent accommodation, while almost half face Christmas in a hotel. Two days after the disaster, the Prime Minister promised families would be rehoused within three weeks.

Survivors and local residents were joined by members of the royal family and senior politicians last week for a national service to mark the six-month anniversary of the fire at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

There was no official representative at the service from Kensington council, which has been heavily criticised for its handling of the crisis.

​McQueen’s project will not go on display for at least two years — while the police investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire and an independent public inquiry take place.