Petticoat Lane Project - Community Banners: Fabrics of society - Give My View

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                     Petticoat Lane Project
                 Community Banners: Fabrics of society

          Community Banners: Fabrics of society
          Thank You for being part of Community Banners: Fabrics of society

          Through this project, you can feed into the designs for fabric banners which
          will be displayed along Petticoat Lane Market in 2021. The project is inviting
          children, families, residents and community members from around the area
          to explore their ideas about textiles, prints and fabrics.

          These ideas will be shared with students in the Textiles department at
          London Metropolitan University in Aldgate, who will draw upon them to
          produce designs for the banners. You will be invited to see the proposed
          banner designs before they have been finalised, and to select your
          favourite ones. The initial ideas won’t necessarily appear on the banners,
          but the students will be influenced by them to build the designs. We would
          also like to share your ideas in a further display later this year.

     More on the project
     Community Banners is a vibrant, creative and collaborative community project.
     Residents, school children, sewing groups, organisations, and members of the wider
     community will be invited to feed into designs which will explore and reflect upon the
     rich cultural heritage of the area, in partnership with London Metropolitan University
     and Leyden Gallery.

Images courtesy of: London Metropolitan Archives, City of London (Collage: The London Picture Archive,
           Contact:
  ref – 339954,      Community.Engagement@cityoflondon.gov.uk
                339956, 339960, 282830; Huguenot Museum; Henry Jones;|Showmi
                                                                        07903 996 970
                                                                                Das; Susan BLackah

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Petticoat Lane and surrounds
Petticoat Lane Market and the surrounding area have a rich and fascinating history.
Many communities have moved to, passed through, and contributed to the area over
the centuries. Many people are passionate about it; many have studied it, and there are
a lot of experts who present themselves in different ways. These experts include local
residents, market traders, small and large businesses, community groups, organisations,
museums and societies. The area is a rich tapestry of people, communities and voices
who are all interested in it and contribute to it in different ways.

A rich history
We don’t have the space to explore the history of the area, or its relationship with textiles,
here; and we don’t want to, as so many people have put a lot of time, energy and work
into doing this already. We want to use this as an opportunity to share some of their work
through a list of websites and books which you can find on page 4.

Textiles and Petticoat Lane
Fabric and textiles have always been part of life around Petticoat Lane Market. People
have come to the area from all over the world, and their cultures have become vital to
it. Huguenots, Jewish refugees and immigrants came to the area around Petticoat Lane
in the 17th century, for example; and brought skills such as silk weaving, dying and
tailoring, making the area an epicentre of the textile trade. This is reflected in some of
the street names such as Petticoat Lane, Weavers Fields and Tenterground (Tenterhooks
were used to hang up dyed fabric!)

Since then, many other communities have arrived and made the area their home. This
includes large numbers of Bangladeshi people in the 1970s, bringing vibrant textile
traditions with them. Petticoat Lane Market remains close to its traditions with its clothing
stalls and the shops selling Dutch wax fabrics prints popular in West Africa. We want to
celebrate the communities around Petticoat Lane with your designs. We want to collate
your reactions to Petticoat Lane and its fabrics; and the patterns we wear and see around
us, sometimes without noticing.

The Petticoat Lane project
The City of London and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are now working together
to rejuvenate Petticoat Lane Market and the adjacent area. The aim is to improve the
operations and layout of the market, introduce better facilities, enhance the public
realm and introduce a new brand for the market. Community banners forms part of the
engagement activities which underpin the Petticoat Lane project developments.

       Contact: Community.Engagement@cityoflondon.gov.uk | 07903 996 970

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Creative Questions to think about…
 While making your pieces we want you to consider the following questions.
                You can use them to inspire your creation.
                 Please feel free to write or draw below.

   Please then pass this back to your teacher, group leader or colleague.
             Or email it, along with a picture of your artwork, to:

              Community.Engagement@cityoflondon.gov.uk
                Or WhatsApp a picture to 07903 996 970

                 We look forward to receiving your ideas!

1. Do you go to a market? What do you enjoy there?

2. What 3 words would you use to describe it?

3. What are your memories of the market?

4. If the market sounds were patterns, what would they look
   like?

5. If your community were patterns what would they look like?

6. Do you have a favourite fabric? Does it have memories?

7. Can fabric remind you of a place or person?

Contact: Community.Engagement@cityoflondon.gov.uk | 07903 996 970

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        Keep exploring
        The below list is by no means exhaustive, but we hope it is a good starting point
        to help you explore your local area…

Businesses

    ⋅   Take a walk around Wentworth Street, Middlesex Street and the surrounding streets, as well
        as the market stalls themselves. Check out Lady Lane Market, east London’s new women-
        led market (www.ladylanemarket.co.uk)

Places to visit or explore online – local history

    ⋅   Bevis Marks Synagogue (4 Heneage Lane EC3A 5DQ): www.sephardi.org.uk/bevis-marks
    ⋅   Bishopsgate Institute (230 Bishopsgate, EC2M 4QH): www.bishopsgate.org.uk
    ⋅   Dennis Severs House (18 Folgate St, E1 6BX): www.dennissevershouse.co.uk
    ⋅   London Metropolitan Archives (40 Northampton Rd, EC1R 0HB): www.search.lma.gov.uk
    ⋅   Sandy’s Row Synagogue (4a Sandy’s Row, E1 7HW): www.sandysrowsynagogue.org
    ⋅   Toynbee Hall (28 Commercial Street, E1 6LS): www.toynbeehall.org.uk
    ⋅   Tower Hamlets Archives (277 Bancroft Rd, E1 4DQ)
        https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/leisure_and_culture/local_history/local_history__archi
        ves/local_history__archives.aspx
    ⋅   19 Princelet Street: www.19princeletstreet.org.uk

Local heritage groups

    ⋅   Brick Lane Circle: www.bricklanecircle.org
    ⋅   Huguenots of Spitalfields: www.huguenotsofspitalfields.org
    ⋅   Memories of Petticoat Lane and Surrounding areas (Facebook)
    ⋅   Swadhinata Trust: www.swadhinata.org.uk
    ⋅   The Jewish East End Celebration Society (Facebook)

Publications and articles

    ⋅   East London History.co.uk, Petticoat Lane Market: www.eastlondonhistory.co.uk/history-
        petticoat-lane-market
    ⋅   Empire Textiles (82 Middlesex Street, E1 7EZ), West African Cloth: What do the colours really
        mean? https://www.empiretextiles.com/blog/portfolio/west-african-cloth-what-do-the-
        colours-really-mean/
    ⋅   Spitalfields Life, The Wax Sellers of Wentworth Street:
        www.spitalfieldslife.com/2011/01/17/the-wax-sellers-of-wentworth-st/
    ⋅   The Jewish Chronicle, Remembering the Rag Trade:
        www.thejc.com/lifestyle/features/remembering-the-rag-trade-days-east-end-london-jewish-
        immigrants-tailors-1.465326

Books

    ⋅   A Modest Living, Memoirs of a Cockney Sikh, Suresh Singh
    ⋅   The Silk Weaver, Liz Trenow
    ⋅   The Story of the Huguenots, Joyce Hampton
    ⋅   Recommendations at: www.romanroadlondon.com/best-east-end-books

Film

    ⋅   BFI online: www.BFI.org search: Petticoat Lane
    ⋅   Brick Lane Circle: ‘Home Machinists (Seamstresses) - Project Launch - 17 April 2019’
        (Youtube)
    ⋅   Brick Lane Circle: ‘How villages and towns in Bengal dressed London ladies in the 17th, 18th
        and early 19th centuries’(Youtube)

           Contact: Community.Engagement@cityoflondon.gov.uk | 07903 996 970