Happy Streets Festival

Roopa Basu holding a botanical fern print at the Happy Streets Festival printing stall

Printing from the garden at 575 Wandsworth Road: a two-day botanical printing experience for Happy Streets Festival 2025.

Two fern prints in red and blue on recycled card

Commissioned by the National Trust team at 575 Wandsworth Road, I conceived and developed a two-day, drop-in botanical printing experience for Happy Streets Festival 2025 in Nine Elms.

Working closely with the 575 team, I brought leaves gathered from the house’s garden into an outdoor festival, inviting visitors of all ages to make their own cards and add to a shared printed tablecloth.

The Story

I had worked with the National Trust team at 575 Wandsworth Road before, and Khadambi Asalache’s extraordinary interiors have long inspired me: his carved fretwork, painting, rich textures and resourceful use of salvaged materials.

For this commission, Erica and the 575 team and I looked for an experience that was accessible, intergenerational and directly connected to the house. Rather than recreate its interiors, we turned to its garden, the outdoor extension of Khadambi’s artistic world. Leaves gathered there became the printing tools, so visitors were working with material from the place itself.

Creative Process

The activity was designed well before the festival. With the 575 team, I explored how to make printing with real leaves intuitive, playful and workable for different ages.

Ferns from the garden at 575 Wandsworth Road, flattened and laid out with printmaking materials

Ferns from the garden, flattened and prepared with the printmaking materials.

Garden leaves and paint tubes laid out for testing leaf printing

Garden leaves and paints laid out for testing: pressure, paint coverage and natural texture.

01Garden to printLeaves collected at 575 were flattened and compared for shape, surface and print quality.
02TestingWith Philippa Egerton’s help, I trialled techniques, paint coverage and repeat impressions.
03Colour and materialI mixed a palette inspired by the interiors of the house, on recycled papers and cards.
04AccessibilityPaints were pre-mixed and workstations set up for quick, flexible, intergenerational participation.

FUN FACT

Leaves have a mind of their own! They printed beautifully in our home tests, but by festival day the stored leaves had turned crisp and brittle, so we improvised a new technique on the spot.

Two Festival Days

Across 5 and 6 July 2025, visitors joined our open, intergenerational printing activity. Using leaves from 575 Wandsworth Road, they explored colour and texture on recycled cards to take home, and added their own impressions to a shared tablecloth. For many of the children we met, it seemed to be their first go at printmaking.
My Role

I conceived and developed the creative activity with Erica and the team at 575 Wandsworth Road. We interpreted the house’s artistic legacy and chose and collected the garden leaves.

I tested and refined the process, mixed the palette, selected sustainable materials, designed for accessibility and led the activity at the festival.

The connection to 575 became physical as well as visual.

Community Impact
  • Two festival days of open, drop-in printmaking, with no experience needed.
  • Two ways to take part: a printed card to take home and a shared tablecloth.
  • For many children, a first encounter with printmaking.
  • A personal connection between a remarkable local house, its garden and the festival community.
Partners & Credits
  • Artist, concept, development and delivery: Roopa Basu
  • Commissioned by: National Trust, 575 Wandsworth Road
  • Creative collaboration: Erica and the 575 Wandsworth Road team
  • Testing: Philippa Egerton
  • Festival: Happy Streets 2025, commissioned by Wandsworth Council and produced by Swans Events
  • Photography: Taiwo Durodola