Near Neighbours has been embracing the opportunities presented by the Olympic and Paralympic Games being on our doorstep. One of the projects we have supported has seen young people of different backgrounds coming together to paint a graffiti mural.

Street artist Mohammed Ali is the creative talent behind murals in New York, Melbourne and Chicago. To celebrate the Olympics he wanted to create a special work in east London which was

• International in flavor fusing Eastern and Western traditions.
• Community based.
• Engaging with Olympic visitors on all levels.
• Challenging perceptions on art and culture

He was also keen to bring together different groups to achieve his goal. He says, “The world might have come together for the Olympics but this time last year London was a place of riots and factions, this project is a perfect opportunity to transcend class, race, and faith to bring all peoples together through art.”

The project involves young people from youth organisation Adventure Quest, Leyton Scouts and arts organisation Soul City Arts.

Here’s what the wall looked like before they got to work: (click for larger image)

And here’s what it looked like after a few days of hard work, team building and creative direction from Mohammed:

You can go to visit the mural in Leyton on the corner of Huxley Road and Leyton High Road. Find out more about Mohammed’s work here.

You can also watch a short video about the project here:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xHgoc0zpJ8]