Spirit of Soho Mural

The Spirit of Soho Mural in London is a community mosaic created in 1991 on Broadwick Street featuring animated figures that move on the hour. Designed by Free Form Arts Trust, it depicts Saint Anne holding a map of Soho alongside historical locals like Karl Marx and Teresa Cornelys. When the clock strikes, Karl Marx sips Coca-Cola while Casanova blows a kiss to Cornelys. It was restored on October 19, 2006.

London Β· from the walk β€œCanvas & Cobblestones” Β· audio ~4 min Β· Generated

9 Carnaby Street, London W1F 9PB

What animated actions happen every hour on the Spirit of Soho Mural in London?

Look up at this wall... and prepare to meet the Spirit of Soho.......... Back in nineteen ninety-one, the community of Soho created this mural at the western end of Broadwick Street to celebrate the characters and venues which make the area so special. Coordinated by two organisations β€” Free Form Arts Trust, who designed and executed the work, and Alternative Arts, who coordinated the workshops and public programme that went alongside β€” this wasn't some artist-for-hire project. It was a community effort in the early nineties, with local people getting actively involved in putting the mosaic panels together β€” so that anyone who helped could walk by and point to a little squiggle in the corner and say, "I made that."

...... Now... look at the towering figure at the top. That's Saint Anne, who gives her name to Saint Anne's Church on Dean Street. The flame-haired saint holds out her skirt to give shape to a map of Soho, with its streets and lanes and their landmarks spreading out beneath her. Can you spot Liberty's department store on the western edge? Or Chinatown's pagoda tucked into the southeast corner?......... Dotted around you'll see dogs and hares, harking back to Soho's origins as a royal hunting ground in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In fact, the word Soho is believed to have come from an old hunting cry!......... But here's where it gets Really interesting. Look at the bottom of the mural. There's an eclectic huddle of notable Soho residents and clientele β€” revolutionary Karl Marx, artist William Blake, poet Dylan Thomas, and jazz musician George Melly.......... And there's a secret love story hidden here. Teresa Cornelys β€” born Anna Maria Teresa Imer in Venice in seventeen twenty-three β€” was an operatic soprano and impresario who essentially invented London's First nightclub. In seventeen sixty, she rented Carlisle House, a large mansion in fashionable Soho Square, and her elaborate masked balls were an immense success β€” attendees included members of the royal family, the Prince of Monaco, the King of Denmark, and "half the peerage." When carriages caused traffic jams outside her house, she created London's first one-way system for coaches!......... And Casanova? He was her lover. She gave birth to a daughter, Sofia, from their affair.......... Now, if you're lucky enough to be here on the hour, Watch carefully. When the clock strikes, Marx sips a can of Coca-Cola, while Teresa Cornelys winks at her former lover Casanova, who returns the favour by blowing her a kiss. A love affair from the seventeen sixties... still flirting on a Soho wall, every single hour.......... The mural was restored in two thousand six by Shaftesbury Plc and The Soho Society, and the clock was re-activated by the Lord Mayor of Westminster on the nineteenth of October that year.......... Oh, and one more thing β€” hidden among the streets on Saint Anne's skirt, you may spot Groucho Marx, an allusion to the famous Groucho Club on Dean Street. So this single wall takes you from Karl Marx... to Groucho Marx. From Casanova to Coca-Cola. That's Soho for you.

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