The Khadija Saye Memorial Fund

Khadija Saye’s mentor, Nicola Green, has launched the Khadija Saye Memorial Fund, along with the artist Dave Lewis, and the director of PEER Ingrid Swenson. They hope to raise £50,000 via www.justgiving.com, which “will be used for study, informal training, internships or mentoring for a young person(s) whose background and circumstance might not necessarily grant them access to such support”.

“Khadija was a true artist with a sensitive and generous singular vision, and will be missed by everyone who knew her,” add Green and Lewis, whose work is currently on show alongside Saye’s at the Diaspora Pavilion in Venice. “We have been inundated with messages of love and support over the last few days. On behalf of all of us involved in Khadija’s Saye’s life as an artist, we are setting up this Fund in memory of Khadija, to help others like her to pursue their passion as artists.”

Khadija Saye’s work on display at Tate Britain, in a display dedicated to Saye and to all who lost their lives at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017. Sothiou, 2017 © Khadija Saye, from the series Dwelling. in this space we breathe, courtesy of Jealous gallery and The Studio of Nicola Green/Tate Britain

A tribute to Saye and “to all those who lost their lives at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017” has also been set up at Tate Britain, featuring an image from Saye’s series Dwelling. in this space we breathe.

Aged just 24, Saye lived on the 20th floor of Grenfell Tower with her mother, Mary Mendy (who is also missing, and presumed dead). Saye studied photography at UCA Farnham, and was already building a burgeoning career when the tower block caught fire last week. It is thought that around 600 people lived in Grenfell Tower; as of 19 June, the presumed number of deaths was 79, including 74 missing people and five formally identified casualties. 65 people were rescued by firefighters.

www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/khadija-saye-memorial-fund. The Red Cross has set up a fund for all those affected by the fire, the London Fire Relief Fund. To read BJP’s obituary on Khadija Saye, click here.

 
 
 
 

Diane Smyth

Diane Smyth is the editor of BJP, returning for a second stint on staff in 2023 - after 15 years on the team until 2019. As a freelancer, she has written for The Guardian, FT Weekend Magazine, Creative Review, Aperture, FOAM, Aesthetica and Apollo. She has also curated exhibitions for institutions such as The Photographers Gallery and Lianzhou Foto Festival. You can follow her on instagram @dismy