1 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 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 Metrop olitan Archives, (Collage: The London Picture Archive, ref – 339954,Contact: 339956, [email protected] 339960, 282830; Huguenot Museum; Henry Jones; | Showmi07903 996 Das 970; Susan BLackah

2 Petticoat Lane and surrounds Petticoat Lane Market and the surrounding area have a rich and fascinating history. M any communities have moved to, passed through, and contributed to the area over th e 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 res idents, market traders, small and large businesses, community groups, organisations, m useums and societies. The area is a rich tapestry of people, communities and voices w ho are all interested in it and contribute to it in different ways.

A rich history W e don’t have the space to explore the history of the area, or its relationship with textiles, her e; 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 hav e come to the area from all over the world, and their cultures have become vital to it. , 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 tai loring, making the area an epicentre of the textile trade. This is reflected in some of th e street names such as Petticoat Lane, Weavers Fields and Tenterground (Tenterhooks w ere used to hang up dyed fabric!)

Si nce then, many other communities have arrived and made the area their home. This in cludes large numbers of Bangladeshi people in the 1970s, bringing vibrant textile tr aditions 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 o perations 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: [email protected] | 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:

[email protected] 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: [email protected] | 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

⋅ Circle: www.bricklanecircle.org ⋅ Huguenots of : 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: [email protected] | 07903 996 970