Wandsworth school children’s textile river is set to flow at Southside

A flowing textile river, woven with recycled materials by hundreds of school children from 32 Wandsworth primary schools, will be exhibited at Southside until Wednesday 8 May.

Led by Royal College of Art Fashion Design graduate and artist Caroline Lauvetz, the project is inspired by Wandsworth's rich history of textile manufacturing along the Wandle River. Over 30 Wandsworth Primary teachers came together and joined Caroline for a series of sessions to learn weaving techniques to enable them to support their pupils from years 4 and 5 with creating their own textile artworks.

The children practiced weaving techniques on Wandsworth-sourced reclaimed fabrics to create an individual and unique piece of cloth. Each participating pupil's upcycled, woven cloth was joined together to create the textile river, which will flow through the exhibition space, referencing the Wandle's historic use of textile manufacturing and the current polluted rivers worldwide. Through the project, pupils have learned about the life cycle of a garment to understand the environmental impact of the current industrial systems in the fashion industry, and sustainable methods of consuming and manufacturing clothing.

Members of the public are invited to explore the textile exhibition and get creative themselves in a series of free drop-in workshops with local artists, using different recycled materials to explore the topic of textile waste. The workshops will take place between 10am-3pm, and the timetable is as follows:
- Saturday 20th April – Workshop with textile artist and designer, Rachel Matthews
- Sunday 21st April – A world of natural colour with Caroline Lauvetz
- Saturday 27th April – Work and Play Scrapstore
- Sunday 28th April - A world of natural colour with Caroline Lauvetz
- Saturday 4th May - A world of natural colour with Caroline Lauvetz
- Sunday 5th May – Riverside Creatures with Hannah Coulson
- Monday 6th May -Riverside Creatures with Hannah Coulson