Silk tie manufactured by Ratti, Italy, published for the benefit of UNICEF by Cultural Ties.
Ken Kiff was born in Dagenham, Essex, in 1935 and graduated from Hornsey School of Art in 1961. For him, colour is both a liberating and a defining force in his work; the subject matter, as Kiff has said, is the music that can arise from working with the materials. He is a poet, musician and storyteller in the guise of a painter. Kiff lives and works in London.

Cultural Ties – a celebration of cultural diversity, was a global project and the brain child of London art dealer Kapil Jariwala. The brief was for 77 artists from around the world to design neck ties. A limited edition of 300 of each tie were produced for sale worldwide via selected retail outlets, gallery shops and the internet.
It was hoped that the project would raise $1 million for UNICEF, in particular for their clean water programme. The Italian firm Ratti, a major producer of fine textiles for the fashion world, was chosen and the artists’ designs were transformed into shimmering, sensual velvets, taffeta and densely woven jacquard.