Southbank Mosaics

About

http://tinyurl.com/SBMf-book http://www.southbankmosaics.com http://www.wix.com/southbankmosaics/gallery Transforming the public realm with colour, rhythm and artistic form ...

Story

Southbank Mosaics wants to pay respects to the Queen, for whom the Jubilee Gardens are dedicated; currently there is no plan to recognise her. We want to celebrate The Achievement of Women at Jubilee Gardens and we want you to join our campaign by signing up and telling us You Like this page, and giving us Feedback.

Why are we running this campaign?
* To give Jubilee Gardens an Identity so people remember their visit
*To build on London Southbank's tradition of support for the welfare of women
*To compliment Parliament Square on the north bank, where the statues are of men
*To create a sense of place: the world's first public realm celebration of women
*To support the Southbank Centre's yearly Women of the World Festival
*To give volunteers and active citizens the opportunity of working alongside world class mosaic artists Tessa Hunkin and Jo Thorpe
*To echo the local architectural symbols: Big Ben (male) and the London Eye (female)

At the moment Jubilee Gardens is a plain space. It is Britain's most visited piece of grass - rather a shame on our culture. The trees and flowers that will be planted in the near future will help to transform 40 years of neglect. Ultimately our aim is to give Jubilee Gardens an identity which will celebrate influential women in history - a unique theme for the heart of London.

The garden was named for the Queen’s Jubilee over thirty years ago and it has yet to live up to that tribute. The Southbank has a noble tradition of concern for the welfare of women: 1758 the first Asylum for Female Orphans; 1767 The General Lying-in Hospital (building still on York Rd); 1769 Magdalen Trust for penitent women; 1828 The Royal Hospital for Children and Women (building still at the south end of Waterloo Bridge); 1887 The Women's University Settlement, still continuing as the Blackfriars Settlement.

Southbank Mosaics’ studios are currently linked to some of the greatest mosaic artists in the world and it would be good to take advantage of their skills (notably Tessa Hunkin and Jo Thorpe who’ve both done a lot of recent work at Westminster Cathedral). I’m sure plenty of other artists and active citizens will be pleased to join in as well. We’re offering a gift, of the highest quality, and our team who have been putting forward ideas for seven years, have unearthed this intrinsic theme (celebrating the achievement of women), with historic roots in the area. By joining this group you are encouraging Jubilee Gardens to live up to its potential as a flourishing area on London’s Southbank.

Why mosaic?
•It is durable and low maintenance
•Mosaic can be made as a small piece of exquisite work ( which counters the tendency to put one huge piece of usually simplistic art work in a place, which everyone sees – usually made by someone famous;
•Helps to break up the endless amounts of cement that currently dominate our public spaces causing mental health problems and provoking graffiti
•Capable of being worked on by teams of people, so many can help: it is a uniquely social art form
•Can link a place to its history and in Britain we have a fascination for history which goes deep into our psyche
•Mosaic creates a sense of place – you know you have arrived at somewhere significant
•It will create employment, for artists, artisans and active citizens: as a labour intensive activity these positions cannot be outsourced
•We will connect to our sense of giving to others

Some people say they don't like mosaic. It's a bit like saying I don't like ballet, or I don't like painting? The definition of mosaic is "A surface formed of discontinuous material." Which means a pavement is mosaic, and so is a brick wall - it's just how much character and detail you want to include. Do you like the Taj Mahal, or the Alhambra in Granada - there's plenty of mosaic there?

Mosaic has a brilliant future as a major form of street and park or garden art. Southbank Mosaics are located in an area of London that was bombed to destruction and then blighted by post-war austerity. The courageous vision and energy of the Southbank remains over-dominated by cement and a constrained public purse. They need all the help we can give. Mosaic is a key medium to bring lightness and interest to this bleak facade.

Why women?
The Queen represents half the people of the world, as well as the Commonwealth. We want to celebrate and acknowledge the positive contributions of women - without them no culture is possible. The Queens of England usually stand head and shoulders above the kings - think of Boudicca, Elizabeth I and Victoria, as well as our current Queen.

There is unfortunately a downside to cultural denigration of women - still a common feature of some conversations and attitudes (i.e. Sun newspaper).
One third of all women in the world are abused or violated in their lives (UN statistics for 2011). The cost of domestic violence in London will be almost £1billion this year (estimate from The Trust for London 2011). Women on average still receive less pay for the same work as men. Sex slavery, female circumcision and forced marriage are widely practised in the UK. Women in prison are overwhelmingly drug addicts, and they are drug addicts because they were abused as children.

Women do two thirds of the worlds work, earn 10% of the worlds income and own 1% of the worlds property. Something's gone wrong.

It is important to signal that we mean to change our culture in a positive way. The history of the world is not the history of great men - it's time to recognise that we all have a story to tell and we all have a contribution to make. Let's Celebrate the Achievement of Women at Jubilee Gardens.

Mission

To transform Jubilee Gardens into a celebration for the Queen and history's influential women.