East London has a rich and varied textile history for manufacturing and innovation which this exhibition, at The Nunnery Gallery, Bow Arts, examines.
The invention of the first synthetic dye, mauveine, by William Perkin took place at his family home in Shadwell and brought the colour purple to the masses and wood block printing by R.E. Littler for Liberty of London took place in the Lea Valley.Contemporary creativity still abounds in the East End with current work by artists and designers including London College of Fashion student Isabella Dunne’s “Raw Pressed” digital printand Sarah Desmarais’ fashion prints as well as Freya Gabie’s Chatham rope and spun golden thread piece 90,000 miles across the sun
Back to the history, I just had to include the compact spinning wheel Mahatma Gandhi brought for his 3 month trip to England in 1931 during which time he was based in Bromley by Bow.
