“It’s a box of chocolates”: Comedian Munya Chawawa on why London at Christmas is unbeatable

London’s skyline has recently been given a digital makeover for the third year on the bounce. In a campaign blending technology with good old festive cheer, creative submissions drawn on iPad spanning everything from professional illustrations through to chaotic doodles, are being beamed onto the gigantic chimneys of the Battersea Power Station.

Leading the charge are comedian Munya Chawawa and fashion illustrator Hayden Williams. For Munya, the project represents a "full circle moment" from his childhood in Norwich, where entertainment meant visiting "the magnum opus of Norwich, the Apple Store," to take "ungodly close-up selfies" on the Photo Booth app on all the display iPads. Now, he is spearheading the campaign that sees Christmas trees of all shapes, sizes and colours light up the iconic London building. Thankfully no close up selfie trees, though.

Shortlist caught up with the two creatives to find out what makes the capital so special in December, and how they turned the city’s 101-metre high chimneys into a canvas not just for their own digital trees, but the general public and national treasures like faithful Stephen Fry, too.

The “Simon Cowell” of Christmas trees

Long before his “Doodles” tree was projected on one of London’s most iconic buildings, Munya had already established himself as a ruthless critic of festive decor.

"This time last year, for whatever reason, I took it upon myself to become the sort of Simon Cowell of Christmas trees," Munya told us. "I was rating people's Christmas trees as just a hobby. I'd been inundated by thousands of trees and basically just systematically breaking down people's self-confidence by telling them how rubbish and skinny and undecorated their trees were."

He laughed as he was telling us (and frankly so were we) noting the public's strange appetite for the critique. "People loved it. It was that Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen type vibe."

This current project strikes a different tone, though. "We sat in the room and we thought, well, what is a playful invitation to tell people that the true artists and the true creative power lies with your everyman? And that's how the campaign came about.”

“What I love most about it is I feel like in metaphorical and actual dark times, a project which pulls people together with no boundaries – colour, race, demographic – and enables people to submit their art and then have it beamed across London from the gigantic towers is just a little bit of a metaphor as to how people's own creative magic can be quite a shining light in dark times.”

Why London wins at Christmas

Munya believes what makes London great at Christmas lies in its “non-uniformness" – a sentiment reflected in the eclectic art beamed onto the towers. "What makes London special is what makes all of those trees amazing, which is that there are no rules for those trees to exist," Munya said. "All shapes, sizes, and colours... there is a fish-mas tree; there's a stack of gyrating Brussel sprouts; there’s a sparkly dress."

"To me, I look at those chimneys and I see all those trees and there's a reflection of what I love about London, which is, it’s a box of chocolates."

Hayden nodded next to us in agreement, noting that the spectacle offers a necessary lift during the British winter. "As Londoners, we can kind of get down, it can be grey and rainy and dark," Hayden told us. "Seeing all this different talent, all the wide variety of different trees and designs... it kind of takes you out of maybe a dark time and makes you think, 'Oh, wow, that's really cool.’”

“My favourite tree is the one that looks like a cross between your grandad and also Gandalf,” Munya added. “It’s like the magical wizard tree and he's pinching a star and placing it on the top. I just feel like I look at that tree and I just feel like I would trust that man to solve all of my problems and sort out all my life admin. It's like the final boss of granddads and I'm here for it.”

Digital Doodles and migraines

As you may or may not have spotted at the beginning, the trees that are being beamed on the Battersea chimneys were all drawn on iPad, with a company then pulled in to add the clever animations that really make them pop. Transitioning from paper to the iPad has been a game-changer for both the Hayden and Munya, though their approaches differ wildly.

For Hayden, it’s about precision. "I used to draw traditionally with pencil and paper... but using the iPad has been a game-changer for me," he told us. "I don't have to worry about storing my illustrations away. They're all on files. I don't have to be super close to the paper. I can zoom in on details”.

Speaking of zooming, probably our favourite part of our chat with this creative duo was when Munya told us his iPad revelation: “I would say that one of the most humiliating moments of my life was whilst in the process of drawing this tree, I was thinking, ‘God, how are people fitting their trees into this chimney?’

“And then I visited a school and all the school kids were working and one of the girls just zoomed in and I went, ‘well, I feel really stupid because I didn't know you could do that’. I had the template. I was just trying to draw inside an impossibly thin line.”

"My tree is called 'Doodles'. It's a combination of doodles," Munya told us. "Because I'm not an artist, I didn't know what the parameters were. So I just used every tool. I used watercolours and I used charcoal and I used a graffiti tool and I used a pencil and I just basically tried to bottle up everything that's happening in my head all the time.”

The result? "One of my best friends saw it and said it felt like a migraine. So each to their own."

Despite the chaos, Munya appreciates the practicality of digital art in a city known for its weather. "I cycle everywhere in London," he told us. "Doing anything on a piece of paper and having that paper in a bag is an extreme sport because it could just start raining out of nowhere and your life's work is just a soggy, damp mess.”

Finding inspiration on the commute

For Munya, the inspiration in London isn't just about the holidays though; it’s about the landscape of ambition he sees from his bike.

"On my cycle home, I always cross the bridge that cuts through London from Covent Garden to Waterloo," he told us when we asked him where we should go for some inspiration. "On that cycle, you can see the Royal Festival Hall where they host the BAFTAs. And so as a documentary maker and a filmmaker and, hopefully, an actor, I get to see that hall every day and I think, 'Oh my god, one day I could win a BAFTA in that room’. I have a lot of friends in the creative arts and all of us would love to hold that strange man's face and hands.

"That is quite inspiring for me. And also anywhere with a viewpoint. So maybe just a Nando's at the top of a shopping mall somewhere,” he joked, naturally making us all chuckle before going on to talk about the level of spice we could handle at the Portuguese chicken shop.

We’re ashamed to say we’re lemon and herb, but it did give us a good idea for a Christmas tree we could draw if Apple runs the Your Tree on Battersea competition next year so watch this space. We’re coming for your Doodles tree Munya and your gorgeous Christmas tree dress Hayden.

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