In conversation with Marie Bak Mortensen

“Representation and climate change seem to me to be the two most profound factors impacting art in public spaces.”

 - Marie Bak Mortensen

Marie Bak Mortensen, Director of Create London

Marie Bak Mortensen is Director of Create London. Create commissions bold, radical and socially engaged art and architecture in the public realm, collaborating with local communities to commission work that is ambitious, purposeful and useful. Previously, Marie was Head of Exhibitions at RIBA from 2014-21, responsible for exhibitions, commissions, and public programming. Prior to RIBA, she spent six years at Tate devising and delivering large-scale partnership projects in collaboration with UK museums and galleries. Before relocating to the UK, she undertook a two-year, international research project into the regeneration of modernist social housing estates on behalf of the Danish government and worked as Assistant Curator at the Danish Design Centre.

Can you tell us about your background in the arts and design and shed light on your role as director at Create London?

I was born, raised and educated in Denmark. After a stint at the Danish Design Centre and the Architects Association of Denmark, I moved to London to start a job at Tate, working on their national programmes and exhibitions partnership. It was a job that took me to every corner of the UK, visiting and working with small and large arts organisations. Then I moved back into the world of architecture, heading up exhibitions, off-site installations and public programmes at the RIBA. After having only worked for sizable organisations with the word ‘national’ in their titles, I became director of Create London two years ago. A small arts charity with 10 members of staff, but with large ambitions to insert world-class art, infrastructure, and architecture into areas of London with the least cultural arts provision and arts participation.

Create London has commissioned several works that have been awarded prestigious prizes, namely Thomas J. Price's Warm Shores and Veronica Ryan's Custard Apple (Annonaceae), Breadfruit (Moraceae) and Soursop (Annonaceae) as part of the Hackney Windrush Art Commissions. Can you tell us how these projects come together?

As an arts organisation that realises permanent public interventions, Create has a close working relationship with local authorities. Many of our projects are developed through dialogue with council officers, who have frontline knowledge and connection with their community. Sometimes our projects come together as a shared vision with local authorities, sometimes we lead on ideas. Regardless of how projects are initiated, they are founded on a deep understanding of and respect for the local context and needs. Public spaces are shared spaces, and we need to work meaningfully with the community to develop these. They cannot be dreamt up within a hermetically-sealed curatorial bubble.

How has the focus on art in London's public spaces evolved over the years?

Representation and climate change seem to me to be the two most profound factors impacting art in public spaces. The focus on diversifying the public realm, to represent the underrepresented, has significantly changed (for the better) commissioning strategies both in terms of who is commissioned and what is being displayed. Secondly, greater awareness around material waste and fabrication carbon emissions has reduced the number of large-scale temporary art projects. Unless you can demonstrate legacy and sound care for the environment both during and after production, these have become an unnecessary luxury that is hard to justify. 

Veronica Ryan's Custard Apple (Annonaceae), Breadfruit (Moraceae) and Soursop (Annonaceae) as part of the Hackney Windrush Art. Commissioned by Create London.

What are some challenges encountered when commissioning art for public spaces?

There are too many to mention! On a practical level, planning permission, structural engineering, soil contamination, underground services, road closure, conservation areas, and listed sites can contribute to protracted and cumbersome processes. On a human level, you need buy-in from neighbours, local businesses, and the wider community to ensure that everyone is supportive of and understands the project's ambitions to generate value and positive legacy. And then there is the challenge of managing artistic expectations as art in public spaces is more prone to changes compared to art displayed in white cube spaces. But it’s all worth it.   

Throughout your career, what have been the most fulfilling and rewarding moments you've experienced?

It is probably publishing a book at the age of 28, which led to changes in Danish policy. I was fortunate to work on a two-year research project that looked into best practices of architectural interventions in large-scale modernist housing estates. With only two years work experience, I got to interview policymakers, renowned architects, and thought leaders internationally. I was completely out of my depth, but 15 years later architects still reference the book as a tool they use to demonstrate that architecture can improve the lives of people alongside socio-economic measures.

What is the best advice you have received? 


If you find yourself in a meeting with challenging stakeholders who are making unreasonable or unexpected demands, just smile… and deal with it later.

Marie Bak Mortensen. Photo by Sean Pollock.

Can you recommend three noteworthy public artworks in London our readers should look out for? 


I have to mention some Create London commissions. One being Inspiration Lives Here, the first public sculpture by Grayson Perry, situated outside A House for Artists in Barking Town Centre. Another delightful piece is the mural by Pio Abad, located on Kilburn High Road. It is another example of how Create London facilitates opportunities for artists to gain their first public realm commission. Beyond the contemporary, the semi-public sculpture Pietà by Jacob Epstein (1956) in Congress House, is worth a visit. I’m not a fan of war memorials but the way the architecture of the atrium is dictated by - or shaped around - this one sculpture, carved in situ, is quite spectacular. I’ve never seen anything like it before.

What advice would you offer to aspiring individuals seeking a career in 
the art industry? 


Be patient. It takes time to build experience and progress within the art industry - or any industry for that matter. You cannot fast-track your career by jumping from one job to another, and sometimes the most rewarding jobs are not the ones that will guarantee you wide publicity.

Can you share any notable upcoming projects that Create London is currently involved in?

There are lots in the pipeline that I still cannot talk about but they do involve more public artworks tied to contested heritage and marginalised communities. Following on from the success of A House for Artists, an ambitious and award-winning model for affordable and sustainable housing tied to long-term public engagement, we are busy working on our next capital project in Plaistow, Newham, transforming a beautiful but neglected 1880s warehouse into new cultural and creative uses. As part of our long-term engagement with Barking & Dagenham, we are also working with social housing estate residents on new commissions with Flock Together and Adham Farawamy.

Who is Marie Bak Mortensen outside the 'office' setting?

When leaving the office, you will most often see me running manically to the station to pick up my two daughters before the after-school club closes! Generally, I love to run or any kind of sport for that matter, including winter swimming, badminton and CrossFit. My partner is an artist and lecturer at an art college. Watching and doing sports is our mental and physical refuge. It allows us to step outside the art world when we are not spending time hanging out as a family with brilliant friends in our Nunhead neighbourhood.

What do you love about London?

I grew up in a small, post-industrial town with few cultural offerings. I love that London has endless opportunities to delve into activities that you never knew existed. The city has provided me with career opportunities that I probably - and strangely -  would not have been able to achieve in Denmark. London has been very good to me so I guess the love is mutual.

Website: createlondon.org

Instagram: @createlondon