BROADWAY

The Broadway Exhibition opened at Brent Museum and Archives, Willesden Green Library, in February 2020. A photographic and audio exhibition featuring workshops and a participatory Life-Mapping Wall, designed to create a fully immersive experience. At its heart, the project celebrated an authentic community in Cricklewood—one that supports its most vulnerable members in an area where the little government support that is available, is not nearly enough.

How It Began

The idea for the BROADWAY project emerged shortly after the South East Alliance (SEA), an offshoot of the English Defence League, planned a far-right demonstration on Cricklewood Broadway in July 2014.

Coachloads of EDL supporters arrived from East Anglia, marching up Shoot-Up Hill waving flags and shouting fascist insults. They were stopped by a much larger group of proud Cricklewood residents, who refused to let them enter the Broadway—let alone demonstrate.

The demonstration failed. The coaches were “sent back to where they came from.”

The demonstrators were correct in assuming that Cricklewood is home to people of many ethnicities, religions, and backgrounds—diversity they oppose. What they underestimated was the strength, cohesion, and resilience of this community.

That moment made me realise how easily we overlook the powerful networks that already exist in Cricklewood and Willesden—and how important it is to look more closely at the places we call home.

Discovering Community

Rachel Lum and I began the Broadway Project in our own postcode - a place we thought we knew well.

We quickly discovered there was far more here than we had ever imagined. We interviewed and photographed local residents, documented neighbourhood spaces, and volunteered in community hubs such as Ashford Place. Over time, we saw how relationships between people formed a rich, interwoven network—spanning generations, families, businesses, and cultures.

One of the most uplifting aspects of this project has been meeting so many people, being welcomed into homes, organisations, and businesses, and feeling even more deeply embedded in our community than before.

Cricklewood may not resemble the Instagram version of community—but it is real, it is resilient, and it deserves to be celebrated.

Matilda Velevitch

With Special Thanks

Heritage Fund
Brent Museum and Archives
Julia Weiss
Alistair Sirkett
Paul Wither
Anthony Richards
Dan Roe
And all the individuals and businesses who generously shared their stories

Photography and Videography by Rachel Lum