LONDON.- A new public sculpture by current Turner Prize-winner Jasleen Kaur as been unveiled by the artist in Thamesmead, South East London, on Friday 28 Nov. Kaur was selected for the commission by a panel of five young, first-time curators from the town in 2022. Called Wa3. I3. Wťll be., Kaur’s first permanent public artwork was developed in close collaboration with these curators and the local community.

Was. Is. Will Be.

Fronting onto Southmere Lake in Cygnet Square, South Thamesmead, Was. Is. Will Be. is part-poem, part-community archive. Fragments of local conversation are permanently embedded into the landscape, leading the eye to the words “HORSES ARE HERE” written high in the sky - in reference to the Traveller Horses that have grazed on the land for hundreds of years. Moving with the wind, the weathervane-like form points to the town’s past, present, and future.

Was. Is. Will be. by Jasleen Kaur was commissioned by a group of five Thamesmead residents: Shalini Panchal, Comfort Adeneye, Gonzalo Fuentes, Qozeem Lawal and Whitney Manassian. Working as a creative studio, the curatorial team was selected through an open call which asked for “clear communicators with a passion for creativity, art and their local community.”

Kaur’s approach was “shaped by the creative studio’s desires and concerns for Thamesmead” - a place of change and strong community spirit. The creative studio said: “This opportunity to commission new artworks as a team is really ambitious, and it gives us the unique chance to make sure the work produced represents where we’re from, who we are, and what we’re about.”

The commissioning initiative was conceived by creative agency Studio Danmole, public art consultant Company, Place and youth culture specialist Joseph Gray. The partnership provided a paid learning programme in which the Thamesmead team gained practical expertise - from researching and brief writing to artist selection - helping prepare them for a future in the creative industry.

Building on the foundational work of the five young curators, the project was developed in collaboration with 52 residents. It was through “cooking and eating together,” Kaur said, that “we created space to share memories,” while collectively questioning what should be “salvaged, preserved, or mapped.”

Adriana Marques, Assistant Director of Cultural Programming and Strategy at Peabody, said: “Was. Is. Will be. perfectly expresses our ambition to weave culture into the fabric of everyday life in Thamesmead. It combines a leading artist, selected by five young residents, with the voices of 52 community members and a poetic reference to the grazing horses - a symbolic presence that speaks to the unique cultural landscape of the area. This collaborative, community-wide effort is what makes our approach unique. As the centrepiece of our autumn programme, the sculpture celebrates a landmark year for the London Borough of Bexley and points to a vibrant future for Thamesmead.”

This major public commission aligns with Jasleen Kaur's first solo exhibition, ‘Boomerang’, at Hollybush Gardens, London. Running from 6 November to 20 December 2025, the exhibition features new sculptures and wall-based works that explore how histories are manufactured and how borders permeate domestic life - thematic concerns that connect to her community-engaged work in Thamesmead.