Large Local Turnout For The Launch Of The Chiswick Timeline

The mural was unveiled at a street party at Turnham Green Terrace

There was a large turnout of local residents and local VIPs to support the launch of the Chiswick Timeline mural at Turnham Green Terrace yesterday Sunday (28 January).

The Mayor of Hounslow, Cllr Sue Sampson, and the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Hounslow attended as did Sir Peter Blake the renowed pop artist, along with other well-known members of the artistic community, Marthe Armitage and Jan Pienkowski.

The two local MPs for the area, Ruth Cadbury and Rupa Huq, also attended as did local councillor John Todd.

The mural is a timeline of historic maps showing the development of Chiswick through the centuries, with works of art depicting local landmarks by some of the artists who live and work in our area. The driving forces behind the 60 foot mural, which is made in vitreous enamel, were Karen Liebreich and Sarah Cruz of Abundance, who thanked all those involved in the project (see list below).

"The support and encouragement of so many Chiswick locals has driven us forward over the past year," they said.

Image- Jon Perry

Sir Peter Blake (above) and illustrator Jan Pienkoffski created limited edition prints which helped to raise funds, and Marthe Armitage was the first to sign up to support the project when it was in its infancy. The mural panels were created by two brothers, James and Tony Kidby of Links.

There was live music led by Andy Murray and his band, hot soup, hot cider, art biscuits, free maps and music, and art projects. The map of Chiswick with its miniature cereamic houses was a favourite attraction for both adults and children.

Here are some photographs of the occasion below taken by Holly Keane

Karen Liebreich (left) and Sarah Cruz, of Abundance, who were the driving force behind the mural

Jon Perry has posted a wonderful selection of photographs on our forum which detail the installation of the mural.

The mural launch is the culmination of an ambitious project to transform the area which has been an eyesore for many years. Abundance London first proposed this project several years ago, and it took time and persistence to get permission from TfL and to sort out local sponsorship. Over 27 metres long, 2.5 metres high, this is a landmark piece of public art.

Karen and Sarah said there was a long list of people to thank for their support. They include:

Ann Gavaghan of TfL; Cllrs Todd and Cllr Dennison who secured the first and biggest tranche of funding from Hounslow Council; Kieran Taylor, Hounslow Council; Mark Wardell who set up the website; sponsors Ealing Council and Fullers (who loaned the truck for the event)

"We would like to thank our 32 other sponsors – local companies and individuals- who blithely signed over hundreds of pounds to us, with no real guarantee that we would do what we promised. Your names are on the panel. There were 83 other people who gave amounts varying from a few quid to a few hundred quid."

They also thanked Val Bott and the other archivists in many libraries who steered them through the history of Chiswick and the history of cartography.

Others who helped out with the project included the five members of the ceramic team led by Svetlana and Kathleen and the 11 members of the embroidery team led by Ekta, the 4 filming & photography team members, led by Peter Evans (who is also one of their big sponsors);the biscuit team led by Bonnie,the book team, led by Kate Fishenden from Starch Green; the band led by Andy Murray; Wint for lending his vintage buses,; the repro team (Barley Mow, Kingston Poly, Octink),;the delivery team (Jennie and Carol); the flyposting cleaning team, esp the Good Gym.;the anti-pigeon team (Steve and Nick); Dean and all those who helped with food and drink: Karen Wyatt for doing all the thankless stuff in the background – spreadsheets, gift aid, insurance.

Karen Liebreich also paid tribute to Sarah Cruz who she said had spent literally hundreds and hundreds of hours preparing the mural and making it the unified artwork it became.

There are also some spin offs from the project.

The Chiswick Timeline book, with an original pattern cover and ingenious concertina design by Starch Green, has been printed by Pureprint, award-winning environmental fine art printers.

CHISWICK WITHOUT BORDERS: TEXTILE PROJECT BY EKTA KAUL
‘Chiswick Without Borders’ is a celebration of our local neighbourhood and its proud international character through embroidering maps. Stitch your connections to the world. Connect your house with a symbolic migratory bird to a place where your family comes from, or where your loved ones are, or simply a place which is dear to your heart

You can get updates from the Chiswick Timeline web site and the Abundance London Twitter page.

February 1, 2018