Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th October are the launch dates for the One Bag Project at Lewisham Arthouse. Come along, see (and buy) art on shopping bags by resident artists and designer makers.
Buy an ethically sourced plain fabric bag to decorate and personalise with paint, print, stitch. We have a choice of two types – long handled and short handled – at £2 each.
Email a photo of your finished bag to the Arthouse and we will add it to a gallery on our website.
The village of Overton was one of the first to go ‘bag free’ following the lead of the village of Modbury in Devon. The local Co-op in Overton charges 5p for a shopping bag if customers request one and these are made of GM free cornstarch. The bags are bio-degradable & compostable. They encourage their customers to bring their own bags but also provide re-usable fabric bags. Leaflets are diplayed at each till with the title ‘Why say “NO” to plastic bags?’
Some of the facts listed include:
Poster in Overton shop window
When I was in Overton last weekend I saw the Co-Op’s policy in practice when they charged a customer for a bag – he wasn’t very happy about it!
A couple of Saturdays ago I went to Islington to pick up equipment & materials from The Make Lounge where I’ve been teaching mosaic. I wandered around stalls selling vintage china in and around Camden Passage sourcing some china plates for mosaic. I then went to Cass Arts to buy some art supplies & finally found Loop nearby which is a knitting shop (with a difference). I really want to do one of Julie Arkell’s workshops there & dress a papier mache rabbit with knitted & hand stitched clothing!
There was a Good Food Festival on Islington Green where I discovered crochet bags by Plastique Bague. Hand made from recycled plastic bags in a range of styles, they are available to buy on Etsy.
I bought a knitted shopping bag a couple of months ago from a wonderful shop in Brighton. It’s knitted from plastic bags. Apparently they stretch alot once there’s shopping inside so have to be made smaller in size!
I went to Hastings yesterday & enjoyed the music festival & carnival in and around Warrior Square Gardens. There were market stalls too & I spotted some handmade fabric bags made by locally based Carry a Bag. I’ve seen them before – they are made from donated & recycled fabric & printed on or appliqued. I almost bought one but instead added to my fabric bag collection with one sourced from a charity shop.
Giant willow & tissue paper flowers in St Leonards street
The Drawing Tent in Warrior Square Gardens, St Leonards-on-Sea
Last Sunday I went through Newington Green on my way to Finsbury Park’s RISE festival. There was a spot of whale building going on (using willow) and free reuseable and fairtrade fabric shopping bags were being distributed with ‘I love plastic bag free Newington Green’ printed on.
Children were busily customising fabric bags with pen drawings and there was a live jazz band playing in the background!
Also, the local Tesco Express had a poster on the window saying that they were going plastic bag free for a week.
Poster in window of Tesco Express, Newington Green
Jimmy Cliff was fantastic singing on stage at the RISE Festival as the sun set over North London!
Lewisham Arthouse will open it’s doors on the weekend of 4th & 5th October 2008 for Open Studios. Meet painters, photographers, textile artists, designers, ceramicists, potters……….
The One Bag project will be launched during the Open Studios weekend. Artists have been invited to make art on reuseable fabric bags. These one-off bags will be for sale over the two days.
The public are invited to take part too. Plain fabric bags will be available to buy for customising either on the day or later at home. Photos of finished bags will be displayed in an online One Bag gallery on the Lewisham Arthouse website as well as here!
Welcome to this weblog. Join in the One Bag project, join in the fun and customise your own fabric shopping bag. Or share ideas about how plastic bags can be made into art or craft. Visit some of the exhibitions listed or links to other groups promoting plastic bag free shopping in other areas of London and the UK. Tell us about your own thoughts about plastic bag free shopping or experiences of similar projects.
The One Bag project will be officially launched on 4th & 5th October at Open Studios weekend at Lewisham Arthouse in south east London.
