Photo credit: Luke O'Donovan
Published:
Welcome everyone
Welcome everyone
Photo credit: Luke O'Donovan
Published:
Aldgate Connect BID is proud to present the ‘On Tenterground’ installation, coming to Mallon Gardens outside Toynbee Hall from 7th-31st July, as part of the London Festival of Architecture.
An installation by ciaociao design taking inspiration from tenterground to celebrate Aldgate’s garment industry. Established in the 17th-century by Flemish weavers, Aldgate’s tenterground was an area used for drying newly manufactured cloth after fulling. The wet cloth was stretched taut using “tenter hooks”, so that it would dry flat and square.
Utilising everyday materials such as scaffold and nylon fabrics which can will be repurposed and recycled, the Tenterground will be used as a common ground to host workshops and performances by London Metropolitan University MA Public Art and Performative Practices students to celebrate LFA 2023 theme’s In Common throughout July.
The London Metropolitan University summer intervention, Tales of (UP)Rising, is designed to foster communal nurturing, growth, and sharing. A diverse programme of artistic activities, including storytelling sessions, pop-ups, and performances will accompany the exhibition of works co-produced with the community.
The site and a specially commissioned design-installation serve as a rich point of germination to explore themes of belonging, identity, and personal histories in the cultural fabric of the neighborhood around Mallon Gardens, Toynbee Hall and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, while also addressing sustainability and ecological concerns within this garden-in-a-city setting.
Rather than conventional techniques for exhibition, the intervention aims to engage the community in conversations to develop work together that captures the spirit of the neighborhood, cultivating an open space to express the complexities of individual and communal urban life.
The workshops facilitated by the 2022-23 cohort of London Metropolitan’s MA Public Art and Performative Practices offer creative exercises on how one might challenge and reclaim the images that dominate our socio-political environments. Participants will be able to create “designs” for a better tomorrow, drawing inspiration from these techniques and combining images from magazines, newspapers, and other printed mass media together with their own photography, written work, natural elements and found materials on site. The artworks created will be showcased as signages, drawings, projections, costumes for performance.
Workshops will take place across the Friday/Saturday of the 7th/8th and the 14th/15th July, with a closing performance and celebration on the weekend of the 21st/22nd July and nightime photographic projections throughout. More information can be found on individual listings. All are welcome!
Join us for the final event day activating the ‘On Tenterground’ installation on Friday 21st July!
The finale open day will include a series of art activities, sewing workshops, storytelling sessions and participatory performances.
Workshops: 11:00am – 4:00pm
Performance: 5:00 – 6:00pm
Free and open to all!
*Due to planned rail strike action, the workshops scheduled for Saturday 22nd July, have now been rescheduled to Friday 21st July.
Workshops on 7-8th & 14-15th July
Morning sessions: 11:00am– 1:00pm
Afternoon sessions: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Workshop on 15th & 21st July*
15th July: 11:00am-1:00pm & 3:00-5:00pm
21st July*: 11:00am-4:00pm & 5:00-6:00pm
5. Dye with Movements – Performance workshop by Asela Rangadewa and Dhanushka Seneviratne
Projections on 7th-22nd July
8:00pm-0:00(midnight)
6. Elements – Photography projections by Ciara Davies
Workshop 1: Cabbage (rag trade off cuts) – an art workshop by Paul Duffy
Create ‘banners’ from textiles which celebrate the historic and contemporary importance of the textile industry in the communities of Aldgate, Spitalfields and Whitechapel. During the workshop there will be the opportunity to connect over conversation, as if you were in the cutting room of a sewing workshop.
The workshops will run on the 7th/8th July, and on the 14th/15th July, with two sessions on each day.
Morning sessions: 11:00am– 1:00pm
Afternoon sessions: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
All are welcome to drop in!
Workshop 2: Situating memories – an art workshop by Shanmukha Priya Mohan
Collage is a vocabulary through which we may re-imagine the histories we have been given by analysing, rearranging, and modifying this material. Drawing inspiration from family albums, the workshop encourages participants to create zines or posters that illustrate their life experiences and move towards imagining new possibilities for the communities and neighborhoods in which they live.
The workshops will run on the 7th/8th July, and on the 14th/15th July, with two sessions on each day.
Morning sessions: 11:00am– 1:00pm
Afternoon sessions: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
All are welcome to drop in!
Workshop 3: Another Way… – a journaling workshop by Magda Olchawska
A blend of journaling and super green growing workshops, perfect for anyone looking for an innovative way to tell stories in their urban environments.
The workshops will run on the 7th/8th July, and on the 14th/15th July, with two sessions on each day.
Morning sessions: 11:00am– 1:00pm
Afternoon sessions: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
All are welcome to drop in!
Workshop 4: Archi Drama: Aldgate anecdotes – a storytelling workshop by Kasra Aghlimoghaddam
Buildings are silent witnesses. They saw what happened in Aldgate and have many stories to tell. Archidrama invites Aldgaters to share their memories in this neighborhood and listen to the poetry of architecture.
Through exploring the intersection between architecture and stories, we can find our own unique interpretation of places and move towards a more equally accessible neighbourhood.
The workshops will run on the 7th/8th July, and on the 14th/15th July, with two sessions on each day.
Morning sessions: 11:00am– 1:00pm
Afternoon sessions: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
All are welcome to drop in!
Workshop 5: Dye with Movements – a improvisational dane workshops & performance by Dhanushka Seneviratne & Asela Rangadewa
Studies concerning Petticoat Lane Market and its history involve the conversion of diverse historical narratives and their associated symbols into choreographed movements. The intention is to recreate these movements using fabrics of varying colours and shapes. The dance movements are predicated upon the ultimate colourful performance.
The workshops will take place on 15th July (two sessions – 11:00am-1:00pm, 2:00pm-4:00pm) and the performance will take place on Friday 21st July*. All are welcome to drop in!
Photography Projection: Elements by Ciara Davies
7th-22nd July
8:00pm-0:00(midnight)
Elements is about connecting nature with urban cities like London. It is also intends to raise awareness of today’s climate issues using conceptual photography. All are welcome to drop in!
The ‘On Tenterground’ installation and the Tales of (UP)Rising summer intervention has been commissioned by Aldgate Connect BID for the London Festival of Architecture 2023.
Find out more
Part of Aldgate Connect BID’s Summer in Aldgate Event Programme, check out full programme below:
Summer in Aldgate