News

People and Palaces

Stitches in Time, a community arts organisation based in east London, was awarded a grant of £16,400 in July 2003 towards the costs of creating textiles and botanical prints of two historical palaces and gardens. The project was known as People and Palaces.

Stitches in Time was set up in 1999 and works on projects with local women's groups, schools and older people's groups. The organisation has developed an arts programme over recent years, using mainly textiles to articulate stories of Britain and particularly London.

People and Palaces brought together elders from three London boroughs (Tower Hamlets, Hounslow and Kensington and Chelsea) with a group of artists from Stitches in Time to design and create textile pieces and botanical prints inspired by the architecture and gardens of Kew and Kensington Palaces. A further grant of £10,000 was also awarded by Historic Royal Palaces.

As part of the Kensington Palace project groups toured the building, focusing on the dress and textile collections researching for techniques and patterns. The processes used included drawing, painting and embroidery. The topiary form (pictured) is partly inspired by the Palace's formal gardens and also by women's costumes at the turn of the 18th century.

An exhibition of the work at Kensington Palace was opened by Jenny Field, Bridge House Trust's Principal Grants Officer, in December 2005.