Artists Ali Carpenter-Hughes has been working with a community group in Belgrave. For both her community piece and own artwork, Alison started by considering the word ‘interwoven,’ as she was interested in the idea of textile materials, terms and techniques reflecting the theme of Unity and how these could be used as a metaphor for togetherness. Alison has been working with a knitting group at Belgrave Library, that originally formed online during the lockdowns as a way for the local community to come together and have continued meeting in person since. Initially, participants considered questions about their community and unity; thinking about words and imagery to reflect these. The group spent the first session working with fabrics, stitch and beads to add to a communal artwork and decided that they wanted to create the finished piece round the festival, Diwali, as this is a time for community and family celebration. Making traditional decorations, such as Toran, and using weaving, sewing and other textile techniques, the artwork will include visual symbolism to incorporate the festival theme of light over darkness.
