Shared Heritage exhibition opens in the Stables Gallery Shared Heritage, based in south London, was one of the first groups in the UK to receive a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Sharing Heritage grant. This exciting project, The Harmony Project, led by Shared Heritage in conjunction with the Victoria and Albert Museum was given £23,800 by HLF. Shared Heritage has also successfully secured £19,820 from the Grants for Arts Programme (Arts Council England). The project has worked from July 2013 to June 2014 with ten youth and community groups in Merton, Sutton, Kingston, Croydon, Wandsworth and Richmond to bring together this new project. Groups have worked with talented artists, Dorothy Tucker and Viv Philpot, to design and then make a series of products and fabrics to be displayed at the Stables Gallery in Richmond. The items are all hand crafted and the fabrics have been digitally printed based on hand drawings and colourings completed by participants with input from the artist too. The exhibition of these wonderful products and fabrics opens at the Stables Gallery in Twickenham on Thurs 4 Sept and will continue to Sun 26 Oct. The project was inspired by the life and work of the 19th century designer, Christopher Dresser, who lived in London for many years, including in Sutton and Richmond. The title ‘The Harmony Project’ partly stems from Dresser’s own enthusiasm for the idea of harmony, a desire for unity and coherence and mirrors well with Shared Heritage’s own vision to use the arts as a catalyst for creating shared spaces in which people can meet. Dresser provided a rich input to develop a new heritage and visual arts project with local communities. Over the course of 2013-4 Shared Heritage worked across six south London boroughs: Wandsworth, Merton, Sutton, Kingston, Richmond and Croydon. The project worked with ten community centres or groups in these boroughs including young carers, the elderly, refugee and disability groups and those diagnosed with cancer and their families. The focus of the project remained strongly rooted in the period in which Christopher Dresser was active and working alongside the Victoria & Albert Museum brought to life this unique individual and the period in which he was working. Participants visited the V&A for a specially tailored introduction to Christopher Dresser, who had a very close association with the Museum. They then got a chance to design and make products including bags, wallets, cushions, scarves, key fobs and aprons as part of a series of workshops delivered by Shared Heritage artists, Viv Philpot and Dorothy Tucker. Participants registered their designs and products in a contemporary ledger specially commissioned for the project and similar to ones in which Christopher Dresser’s work may have been registered as a form of early copyright. The contemporary ledger will be featured as part of the exhibition at the Stables Gallery. The project has brought to life an important period of transformation in British design during the 19th century through a series of creative design making activities that simulate techniques and ways of presenting that point to a rich legacy for designers and audiences today. The project has also seen the launch of a dedicated website containing blogs, images and learning materials to promote the project further (harmonyproject.co.uk). Known as the ‘Peoples Designer’, Christopher Dresser’s ideas and practice are both provocative and inspiring and suggest ways in which Shared Heritage can build on its commitment to engaging new and diverse audiences, for example, by extending Dressers invitation to explore non European design or to explore colour palettes associated with other regions or countries. In addition Dressers link between good design and mass production and his active pursuit of commercial and popular outlets for his work point to the spirit of another age that may be very relevant today as we seek new and enterprising ways of developing local economies and communities. Shared Heritage is an arts and heritage organisation currently specialising in textiles and crafts. It provides opportunities for different social groups to participate fully in the life of their community particularly but not exclusively through arts, crafts, skills sharing and cultural activities. It strives to ensure that the learning from its projects is made widely available. Shared Heritage has demonstrated a long standing commitment to bringing art and heritage activities to south London over the past decade. Commenting on the award, Iqbal Husain (Director of Shared Heritage) said: “It’s great that we have been able to complete this project to such a high standard. The artists and participants have really enjoyed the experience and worked very hard to design and make an amazing range of designs and products. Christopher Dresser is such an inspiring 19th century designer and would be very impressed by the creativity and industriousness on display. It is a great privilege to bring his work to life with local communities in south London through heritage and creative activities and a unique partnership with the V&A. We very much hope that as a result Christopher Dresser will be far more widely recognised and appreciated for his work.” Sue Bowers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London, said: “The project is both informative and creative. It will raise awareness of the designs of Christopher Dresser among local communities who, thus inspired by this heritage, will then have the opportunity to produce their own craftwork. This will in turn feature in a public exhibition that will permit appreciation of Dresser’s skills by a much wider audience.”
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 15:21:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015