Camille Walala A long life in the sunshine

Camille Walala is a London-based purveyor of positivity, expressed through vibrant colour and bold pattern. She is known for ambitious, large-scale and explosively colourful interventions in public spaces. Camille’s signature tribal pop style features a limitless energy that works perfectly for show-stopping and social spaces.

Walala Parade’ must have been such a rewarding project. Was it easy to get the residents engaged?

We had to convince the 10 or so people who owned the buildings and shops on the street to take part. It took a long time to have all these conversations and get people involved, but it was such a rewarding part of the project! I loved this aspect of working with the community and having residents give their input. There were little compromises with the colour and pattern over about a year. People had different perspectives and backgrounds which had an impact. It went on a real journey – over about a year, I think! But people were very excited and happy by the end.

Why do you think people react so positively to colour ?

Colour has a lot of power because it works instinctually on us – you don’t need to have read a certain book, or think about something in a particular way. I love this accessibility of colour, especially when it has an immediate impact. We all want to feel welcomed and inspired by the places we are in, and colour is a very important part of that. No one wants to pass by the same mundane buildings on their commute everyday!

In multi cultural cities do you think colour plays a unifying role?

Yes, I think this is very important. A multicultural city like London has lots of different people and communities here who all have their own ideas and influences, so they want to express themselves in different ways. Colour is an important part of expressing your culture, and the more of this that we share the more that other people will feel welcome to express themselves too!

How do you think we can bring colour into our homes?

Just go to the shop and buy some paint! If you are feeling a little radical, you can paint your walls in different ways to experiment… if you don’t like it, you can always just paint it white again. Or for a more subtle approach, you can buy some soft fabrics, a nice piece of art, something small to make a difference.