Fiona Atkins, curator of Town House Gallery in Fournier St, reveals a personal inspiration that she discovered during lockdown
In common with many, I found this last lockdown the hardest. It was winter and London was grim. Unlike the first lockdown, I knew it was going to last a long while. I am lucky enough to have a garden and, if you had asked me what was the one thing that sustained me, I would have said that was it.
Yet one day towards the end of March, when I found myself in a low mood triggered by news of variants and further waves of infection, I came across a photo of an old Afghan bridal dress while browsing online, struggling to lift my mood. Our last family event before Coronavirus loomed on the horizon was my daughter’s wedding and this dress, with its wonderfully bright pink and swirly skirt, instantly brought back the joy of that day which seemed so very distant then.
I must confess I know little about Afghan wedding customs or traditions, but my mother and grandmother were good seamstresses who taught me when I was a child and I have started sewing again during this last year.
When I examined the dress, I grew fascinated by the volume and quality of work involved in the panel on the reverse and by the evidence of the several ‘hands’ involved in making the garment, and – by contrast – the roughness of some of the stitching and the patching used here and there. I could see the passage of time in the making and re-making of this dress.
As I came across more of these old Afghan wedding clothes, for men as well as women, my despondent mood was displaced by the excitement of discovering these exuberant creations with their wonderful embroidered panels, braids and silk fabrics. I ended up buying them all and they are now on display in the gallery at Town House in Fournier St, as my special source of consolation in lockdown.
Drawing inspiration from this experience, the theme for this summer’s Open Exhibition is ‘one thing that helped me through lockdown.’ I wanted to strike as positive a note as possible as we leave restrictions in June.
Submission is open for another week until next Sunday 16th May and Fiona Atkins’ collection of Afghan dresses is on display in the gallery until the end of May.
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