Brent Biennial 2025: FIRE Ritual – Grieving Kilburn

About the event

Following the autumn equinox, and in these times of personal, collective and land grief, this open-hearted participatory session centres ritual and fire as allies for death, grief and transformation.

Led by local interfaith minister Caren Wynn-Owen, participants will be held in simple practices that honour the elements and invite connection, release and renewal.

Bridging the gardens of Kilburn Square and Metroland Studios, the session flows into space for conversation, rest and music.

About the artist:

Caren Wynn-Owen is a producer, OneSpirit interfaith minister and DJ rooted in community, ceremony and creative practice. She is committed to creating inclusive spaces of connection, care and celebration — from public rituals to intimate circles, rites of passage and spiritual counselling.

Her journey weaves together leadership in arts and community programmes — including founding K2K Radio, managing South Kilburn Studios and Kilburn Festival, and work with Brent 2020 London Borough of Culture, Camden Council, The Arrigo Programme and SEED Network.

Based in Kilburn, London, Caren lives with her two teenagers and brings warmth, creativity and presence to all she holds.

Brent Biennial 2025: FIRE Ritual

FIRE Ritual takes place from 26 September to 12 October 2025.

Fire is a tool, both revered and feared. A glowing hearth calls us home, to safety and sustenance. Gentle embers create warmth, while a blazing flame provides illumination and a force for change. Its power is exponential, and the insurgencies and profligacies of fire threaten destruction. Fire symbolises the potential for creation and destruction. It challenges the notion that structures should last forever, and instead speaks to transferences of im/materiality across dimensions.

FIRE Ritual forms part of the programme for Brent Biennial 2025. Titled Bones, stones, and calling the four elements, the Biennial is curated by Annie Jael Kwan, and unfolds across a series of four elemental rituals – WATER, EARTH, FIRE and AIR – at four Brent sites – a public reservoir, a park, an old medical facility and a university campus. Located in the north and south of the borough— Harrow, Wembley and Kilburn— the ‘rituals’ will feature artists presenting workshops, talks, performance and exhibition.

FIRE Ritual is presented by the Brent Biennial 2025, with the support of Arts Council England, Brent Council, Canada Council for the Arts, Granville Community Kitchen, Hong Kong Arts Development Council, K2K Radio, Kilburn Square Housing Co-op, Something Human, University of Westminster, and Wing Yip.

For more information visit : https://metrolandcultures.com/events/brent-biennial-2025/