The first permanent public artwork by leading British-Filipino artist Pio Abad takes the form of two murals on Kilburn High Road (on Burton Road and Willesden Lane) that are inspired by vanitas still life paintings. The objects presented in the murals reveal an unexpected history of Kilburn High Road by bringing together artefacts from the Brent Museum Archives, ornaments of personal significance shared by local residents and items that Abad photographed on the high road.

In creating these contemporary vanitas murals, Abad commemorates how the complex, and often painful, history of colonialism has shaped the communities living on Kilburn High Road, while also celebrating the people from the area, whose stories are embedded within the objects.