Threading through Communities (2019-20)
By
Seiko Kinoshita
Lantern lit event in Belper. Photo credit: Daniella Sasaki
Threading through communities is a project by artist, Seiko Kinoshita to celebrate the rich heritage of communities living at the centre of Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.
Commissioned by Beam for Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Great Place Scheme and funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England, Seiko was inspired by how the socially-minded Strutt family built a thriving community in Belper and wanted to shine a spotlight on the unique areas they built. She was also fascinated by the World Heritage Site status of Derwent Valley Mills and found many similarities to the Tomioka Silk Mill in Japan which was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2014.
Seiko created a lantern design influenced by the shape of old bobbins stored in the basement of Strutt's North Mill and the Japanese tradition of illuminating paths with lanterns. The lanterns combined cotton thread, including John Smedley’s Sea Island Cotton, paper and other natural materials to thread through each lantern to create beautiful effects. She worked with 500 people from local communities and school to make the lanterns.
The lanterns were installed in St Peter’s Church located in a historically significant area in Belper where the workers from the cotton mills lived. The local Captive Audience Theatre Company recited Belper Clusters Heritage Group, Jeanette Burton's poems during Lantern lit evening.
To watch a video about the making of Threading through Communities, click the link below:
“This gives me a sense of belonging.’ ‘What a pleasure to be a part of this !’ ‘I feel as though I’ve been part of history in the making”
“Thank you all for gifting the Clusters with this wonderful experience that has bound us together a little more tightly, and as with any piece of thread, we never really know how long it is...endless. Belper Clusters Heritage Group is very grateful for what the engagement in this opportunity has given us as we move forward to our own Heritage Lottery funding bid, and without a doubt look forward to carrying on all the positivity, creativity, relationship building and learning the Lantern project has begun.”
More information: www.seikokinoshita.com
