Having lived in St Albans since the age of five, the city’s rich history holds deep meaning for me, and participating in this artwork project has been a valuable way to express that connection. I’ve always enjoyed working with oil pastels—my preferred medium—which I explored more deeply during the Covid-19 lockdowns when I had extra time to create.
In this piece, I added sand to the sandstone areas for both texture and natural colour, and placed small slate chippings within the wall to create a subtle three-dimensional effect. The inclusion of eight South Asian flags was inspired by the growing ethnic diversity I’ve witnessed in St Albans, which has added vibrancy through food, language, and cultural celebrations—particularly visible during the city’s Food Festivals and events in schools and community centres.
I positioned the St Albans flag above the others to symbolise unity, encompassing the diversity of the eight nations represented. In response to the project’s title, Commit No Nuisance, I translated the phrase into the eight languages corresponding to the flags: Urdu (Pakistan), Hindi (India), Pashto (Afghanistan), Bangla (Bangladesh), Dzongkha (Bhutan), Sinhala (Sri Lanka), Dhivehi (Maldives), and Nepali (Nepal). As a British Asian with roots in Pakistan, learning and writing in each of these languages was a highlight of the project.
Visiting the Clock Tower helped me study the historic door more closely which provided additional inspiration for the work.
Medium: Oil pastel / sand / slate chippings
Artist: Syed Hassan
