Monday 16th May
Arts residency stage 1
My residency at the house of Annetta in Spitalfields begins soon. I am excited to begin this project. The idea of working within Brick Lane seems interesting and particularly the house of Annetta as the house is being redesigned by Assemble and it seems that they have some very interesting concepts going on around redesigning this house and how the house will reflect the needs of the community and the needs of social justice. “the idea: a new social centre to support those working for housing justice and reform.” I went to London to visit and get a feel of the space. I travelled on the night coach National Express and arrived at 6.30am in the morning. It’s the cheapest way to travel and you have the whole day ahead of you. I went for a coffee near to Victoria station and then I headed over to Camberwell Green to meet Michelle so we could head off to the feminist library.
We were greeted there. I didn’t know where to start. I looked at the books and magazines. There were just so many. We all sat down and talked. I decided that I would go with the medium that I enjoyed for the residency and decided on textiles and mixed media. After much browsing through various magazines Minna suggested I read The Subversive Stitch by Rozzika Parker so I have now orders this book from Amazon.
Michelle and I travelled on to the House of Annetta and met Fran who showed us around the house.
It was a beautiful old house in Princelet street.
Why is it called house of annetta?
The website tells us:
“over the past 40 years 25 Princelet St has been home to Annetta Pedretti, who used the space to create a powerful collection of theoretical, architectural and artistic projects.”
“in December 2020 we opened an exhibition: SAVE BRICK LANE, led by the Spitalfields trust and the gentle author, to raise community awareness and consult on the new luxury retail development proposed within the Truman brewery.”
When I returned back to Liverpool I set about deciding how to approach this residency and I knew I had to do my research. I had just written an art review for Tate Liverpool for their exhibition, Radical Landscapes. This exhibition inspired me and intuitively on a weekend, my grandson and I took lots of pieces of coloured patchwork fabric from my home and we created the Oak Flag Tree inspired by The House of Annetta’s flag and concept.
We created this in Litherland where I live. It was a temporary performance art and installation and it was fun but ultimately it was a reminder that it would be lovely to encourage and keep communities together and celebrate inclusivity and diversity.
Alice Lenkiewicz 