Funding from Streatham Action's Active Streatham OLF: supported by the Mayor's Outer London Fund, which is helping increase the vibrancy and growth of high street places across London.
SPICE TENT - OUR FIRST SHOWING AT STREATHAM KITE DAY
'I would like to say a very special thank you, to you all, for bringing the Spice Tent to Kite Day and for contributing so much to the success, enjoyment and popularity of another great community day on the Common. The tent looked amazing and the activity was very popular.' Andrew Simpson, Organizer of Kite Day in Streatham
MAKING SPICE TENT
‘Spice Tent’ is being constructed according to the above designs with a wooden framework, walls of fabric and the structure will be approximately 3m high.
The fabric walls are being made from a mixture of different African waxed cottons interspersed with numerous ‘windows’ of different shapes and sizes and on different levels. The ‘windows’ will be made from multi-coloured translucent fabric which will cast different coloured lights in the interior of the tent.
The Spice Tent can be erected on grass or cement surface as it will be designed to be pegged down or freestanding.
Inside the tent we will hang a series of ‘pouches’ which will be filled with pungent spices: cloves, fennel, cinnamon, cardamom, garam masala, carob, black pepper etc. These pouches will be hung at different levels so that adults and children alike will be able to smell them.
Members of the public are invited to enter the tent in small groups and are asked to name some of the spices they’ve smelt – it's amazing how many of us find this difficult when we have no visual clues!.
The project demonstrates the innovative community collaborations and artistic excellence in evidence in Streatham. Spice Tent is unique and diverse in both significance and delivery and will attract new audiences for arts & crafts in London.
Making the tent involves many women from the Streatham Women’s Sewing Group CIC in activities where they can learn skills, gain confidence and escape the social isolation from which so many are trapped.
So far the Spice Tent has been installed at Kite Day, at Streatham Festival in the Rookery Gardens and beside Streatham Green for the Food Festival on 18 August and the Little Big Peace Event at Gracefield, Streatham.
At the Little Big Peace Event we also staged an interactive installation called Human Knitting Nancy - Spice Tent can be seen in the background.
Spice Tent (2013)
© Fion Gunn & Streatham Women's Sewing Group CIC
We gratefully acknowledge the support of our local Morrisons Supermarket which has contributed fruit and spices for the Food Festival event.