ABSTRACT

There is an obvious parallel between the journey to Kensington Palace Gates and the purposive journey to some sacred place which is the core of most pilgrimage. Like early Christians visiting the shrines of the martyrs in the cemeteries outside Rome, the Kensington pilgrims abandoned their daily routine to embark on a journey to a green and pleasant space, where in comparative tranquillity they reverenced the holy dead - one whom many perceived as a martyr. There is a parallel, too – in result if not motivation – between the outpouring of artwork at Kensington and that of folk-art in the form of ex-votos at Catholic pilgrimage sites. Ex-votos generally speaking are material objects, including framed written testimonies and pictures, left by pilgrims at shrines as thank-offerings. Like pilgrims, these people assumed privileged status - in their case the freedom to annexe 'public' space.