Textiles in Transition

AIM

The aim of this project was to engage students with the wider multicultural community, celebrating communal changes. This involved collaborating with Swanlea’s primary feeder schools. The objective was to prepare students in primary schools the transition to secondary schools. Swanlea pupils were aiming to achieve their collaborative work through being introduced to new and contemporary textiles skills by professional artists and by producing school equipment bags as their ultimate target. The duration of the project was 10 weeks.

Plan of the project

It was decided that initially, Sarah from Textiles In Transition would visit the Primary feeder schools and discuss the format for the collaboration between Swanlea and the Primary schools.
The second stage was that Sarah would come into Swanlea School to discuss both Bengali and English cultural mix in Tower Hamlets and work with Year 8 students on producing pieces of quilting.
The third phase of the project was to take the quilting produce to the primary feeder schools and show it to the participating students so that it would ignite some ideas and motivate them to play their part in the project.
The final part of involved the primary schools coming into Swanlea in order to carry out a 2-day workshop with Swanlea students and make their final product

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

Textiles in Transition set out to work with two of Swanlea’s feeder primary schools, some Swanlea students and a local parent’s centre to produce visually stimulating pieces of contemporary textile work for the school to own. The aim was to discuss Bengali cultural traditions and utilise this to inspire the textiles work, which had already been started by the Parent’s Centre in Tower Hamlets.
Sarah Pimenta, the artist intended to use a variety of textiles skills including screen-printing, appliqué and embroidery.

Textiles in Transition have worked with Swanlea for the past three years on various projects including the banners which are decorating the length of the internal mall (see video of the banner project). Textiles in Transition are experienced in working with our local community. For more information see their website at www.clothofgold.com

This project was a logical extension of the work that has been produced during 2003 with local Bengali women. Textiles in Transition worked with Bengali women at Stewart Headlam Parents Centre and created screen-printing hanging which are displayed in our school library.

This project combined Bengali textiles with traditional English textile skills. Sarah, initially worked with students from Year 8 on producing vibrant pieces of quilting, which manifest a cultural mix. This was the first step in producing schools bags. These quilting were then taken to two Primary Schools: Kobi Nazrul and Banga Bandhu so that students in years 4 and 5 were able to see what Swanlea students had produced and the skills that were required for the job.

During February 2005 the Primary schools came into school to carry out a 2-day workshop. Year 4 and 5 students collaborated with Swanlea students and designed and made screen-prints. During the course of the day, they were guided by the artist, Ms Maggie Williams and Ms Vanessa Chadwick.

On their return to school, both Kobi Nazrul and Banga Bandu schools produced attractive embroidery reading-corner settee covers which they brought into Swanlea on their second visit during March 2005. This time they spent the day completing their handbags by ironing gold leaf onto material, screen -printing their design and using sewing machines to sew their final pieces together. Both Swanlea and the Primary schools have displayed all the contemporary textile work which they have successfully completed.

The reason behind involving other schools was to develop a link with the local community and to enable pupils to become aware of Bengali cultural traditions by the direct experience of being inspired them. It was intended to produce a vibrant mix between the local culture of Tower Hamlets and our national British/English culture.

Enterprise context

Through completing this project, students learned the importance of two very different cultures co-habiting in a multicultural society. The students developed their enterprise skills of co-operating with others, creating solutions to practical problems, liasing with members of public, gaining confidence, using their one initiative when required and designing and producing an unique and original piece of textiles work.

OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT:

Broadening public sphere through school and community collaboration and positive experience
Promote secondary school to potential pupils.
A variety of textiles skills were developed
Promotion of bi/multi/cultures

Final Evaluation

The project was a huge success mainly because of the variety of the enterprise skills that the students were taught by professional artists: from creating their own designs using a mixture of Bengali and English cultural ideas, ironing gold leaf onto material, screen printing their designs and finally using sewing machine to sew their pieces together to form a school bag.

Some student showed great skills at sewing, clearly leant from parent and grandparents. Others became more skilled and the project generally, due to its breadth, brought out different talents in each student involved.

Working together with primary students to show their work, describe and present it to them was an important enterprising contribution to their confidence and at conveying ideas to audiences.