Over many months, 120 local creatives stitched, embroidered, knitted, and crocheted a vibrant map filled with landmarks, memories, stories and personal connections to Walthamstow
More than 1,600 people visited a unique community exhibition last weekend celebrating Walthamstow through a large-scale collaborative textile map created by local residents aged from eleven to 90.
Over many months, 120 contributors came together to answer the question ‘What makes Walthamstow special’, through stitching, embroidery, knitting, crochet and textile art, creating a vibrant map filled with landmarks, memories, stories and personal connections to the area.
Created by The Walthamstow Welcome in partnership with Frederick Bremer School, the project brought together over 70 year seven students and teachers alongside more than 50 members.
The Walthamstow Welcome is a volunteer-led community group founded by knitwear designer Debbie Bliss MBE to tackle loneliness and social isolation through craft.
The finished artwork was exhibited at Orford House and later at Mother’s Ruin as part of the E17 Art Trail, attracting more than 1,600 visitors over two weekends. Visitors explored the map, shared their own memories and celebrated the creativity and diversity of the local community.
The exhibition also welcomed the Mayor of Waltham Forest Marcelo Hart-Camus, and High Street councillor Lisa Bryan.
The visit provided an opportunity to showcase the artwork and meet many of the contributors whose stories, memories and creativity are stitched into the piece. During his visit, Councillor Hart-Camus added his own stitched contribution to the map, becoming part of the artwork’s continuing story.
Writing in the exhibition visitors’ book, the mayor said: “This map of stories, places, landmarks and landscapes is a quilted and sewn magic tapestry that beams with the beauty of our corner of the world. I am honoured to visit and even contribute a stitch; thank you.”
Debbie Bliss MBE, founder of The Walthamstow Welcome, said: “This project exceeded all our expectations. It brought our community together in ways we could never have imagined and gave local children the opportunity to feel involved and have a voice in the place they call home.
“The response has been wonderful, with more than 1,600 people coming to see the exhibition. Everyone who has viewed the map has found something that connects with their own experience of Walthamstow. We were delighted to welcome the Mayor and grateful for his support of a project that celebrates the creativity, diversity and generosity of our community.”
One attendee reflected on the impact of the group behind the project, saying: “I’ve lived in Waltham Forest for 35 years and have never felt a warmer welcome and connection with others than I have with this group. I love it.”
Jacquie George of The Walthamstow Welcome said: “We began with a simple question: ‘What makes Walthamstow special?’ The answer came through the stories, memories, creativity and generosity of everyone who took part. Bringing together 120 contributors aged 11 to 90 has been an extraordinary journey and, as one of my colleagues observed, it is not often you see a piece of work that spans so many generations and includes people from such a wide range of backgrounds.
“Seeing more than 1,600 people visit the exhibition shows just how much this project has resonated with our community. We were honoured to welcome the mayor and councillor Bryan, and delighted that the mayor chose to add his own stitch to the map.”
The completed artwork represents more than 1,500 hours of creative work and demonstrates the power of community collaboration, bringing together residents from different generations, cultures and backgrounds through shared creativity and storytelling.
All photos are credited to Nicola Tree (www.nicolatree.com)
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