About
A Celebration of black womens hair through knitting.
East London collective Black Girl Knit Club collaborates with LendLease to Yarn Bomb The Pavilion at Stratford Cross. Entitled: ‘ Braided Traditions: Common Threads’.
Created over six weeks, Black Girl Knit Club members attended weekly workshops, exploring arm knitting techniques (no needles) to create pieces that will decorate Endeavour Square public viewing platform, steps, and railings.
The 1st phase of this installation was crafted by Black Girl Knit Club members who created designs inspired by the form and creativity of Black women’s hair. The workshops included reflecting on the historical and cultural significance of hair within the Black community, and making connections to the Hair: Untold Stories exhibition at the Horniman Museum curated by founder of @BlackHairStories Korantema Anyimadu.
The large-scale arm knits incorporate upcycled industrial scaffolding netting sourced from constriction businesses, ribbon, tulle, rope textures and other repurposed textiles some sourced locally from East London based textile reuse hubs such as the Childrens Scrap Project and Yodomo, a Hackney Wick based business that identifies waste materials that can be reused by the maker community.
The 2nd phase will spotlight 5 knitwear designers will be yarn bombing and covering the surrounding trees.
At the centre of this shift sits Stratford Cross. A new neighbourhood developed by Lendlease, it puts you in the middle of all this area has to offer. Respecting the industrious legacy and diverse creative community of Stratford, while shaping an exciting destination that everyone’s free to explore. - LendLease
Free public access to view: Monday 8th January – 12th April 2024. Daily: 0800/2200 @ Endeavour Square, Stratford Cross, E20 1JN
We can’t wait to see your pictures please tag us on Instagram or TikTok using: #StratfordCrossXBGKC
“With its origins in subversive street art and political resistance, our yarn bomb takes its inspirational cue from the ever-changing, and creatively rich world of Black Women’s hair. Referencing the photography of ‘Okhai Ojeikere’ and inspired by the vivid colours and textures found in Black hair shops across East London. We wanted to reflect and showcase our members and their individual stories centred on their hair ”
A FEW OF OUR BGKC CREATIVE COMMUNITY
PHASE TWO: MEET THE KNITWEAR DESIGNERS
“Gara ndiruke” (sit and let me braid) My yarn bombing is inspired by the transformative joy of being able to explore fluctuating identity through my hair after my mother and nanny taught me. I wore many masks.
“Country Plant” by Fatima Duke-Pratt - @unduku_luku - My yarn bombing is an exploration of the colourful traditional hairstyles and hair accessories I wore in my childhood. In Krio, the most widely spoken language in Sierra Leone, ‘country plant’ describes a type of cornrow/braid that I have featured in my work
“Breanna” by Peju Obasa - @pejuobasa, - A yarn bombing homage to Breanna, my first Barbie doll. With Breanna, my fascination with braiding found its playground!
"Braids For My Girls" by Sheree Robinson - @Shereerarobinson -My yarn bombing features depictions of the dialogue, phrases, symbols, and pictures that make up our familiar hair language; it’s a love letter of joy to the hair of my daughter and sister. The work uses the knitting techniques of Braiding, Faire Isle, Colour Work and Beaded Knitting.
“Combing Through” by Mia Rodney - @allbitsknit - I encourage the viewer to interact with my yarn bombing through touch and feeling. The focus is on hair in its natural curly state, with nods to straightening hair. I explore these intricate curl patterns in my knits, with large hand knitted panels – crafted using relaxing repetitive movements – just like in hair braiding
A huge expression of gratitude to our creative community at BGKC, as well as East London Tales, Lend Lease, Golden Touch Hair Shop in Forest Gate, Yodomo, Children Scrap Project, Korantema, and the BGKC team for their collaboration on this project.
#StratfordCrossXBGKC
@BlackGirlKnitClub | @stratford_cross
All Photography by Kings-Art