London Design Festival 2024Voices of Wandsworth

This heartwarming session brought together nearly 30 children, ages 4 to 14, with parents and a lovely grandmother joining in. Each child created a butterfly carrying a unique, heartfelt message, shared amidst laughter and connection. Celebrating Indian Independence Day added even more meaning, with butterflies crafted in the colors of the Indian flag. Special thanks to Dr. Ashish Patel for making this workshop so memorable.

Held at Battersea Arts Centre and hosted by 575 Wandsworth Road, this workshop invited Wandsworth residents and workers to share their voices. Participants enjoyed poetry readings by Nick Eisen and hands-on origami inspired by Khadambi’s butterflies at 575. A heartfelt thank you to Laura and Erica for facilitating and to everyone who joined—these contributions truly jumpstarted the project.

In partnership with Arty Crafty Crescent Club, this vibrant session was one of our final open workshops. Participants explored the prompt, “If a butterfly could hear you, what would you say?” and crafted butterflies on sticks. Creativity overflowed as chatterboxes, origami flowers, and even an origami cat joined the butterflies! A special thanks to Tiah for organizing and hosting this lively gathering.

Held at Cromwell House Community Hub, this magical day saw paper butterflies transformed into delicate fabric creations, perfect for brooches and headbands, thanks to Tiah’s brilliant suggestion. With the support of the MACWO family, art, sewing, and community came together in a joyful celebration. Thank you to everyone at MACWO for making this session unforgettable.

Our final session at Balham Library with Wandsworth Welcomes Refugees provided a powerful conclusion to the project. Messages of hope and resilience were shared in Arabic, Amazigh, Urdu, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Gaelic, and more, reflecting our community’s diversity. A participant’s message, “If you have hope, you have everything,” captured the spirit of this gathering. Thank you to Mary for organizing this wonderful session and to Balham Library for hosting. And to everyone who brought their voice, language, and heart to this uplifting gathering.

 As one of the final sessions, there was growing awareness about the project, and I was deeply touched when one of the participants arrived with a poem she had composed about a butterfly. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of KLS, we crafted our butterflies using custom origami paper printed with the KLS logo, making each butterfly a tribute to this special milestone. Thank you to the ladies of KLS for their warmth, creativity, and all the inspiring conversations that made this workshop unforgettable.