Art Voyage Biennial & Arts Council Project Grant

Echoes of Migration (2025) is an interactive, socially engaged artwork exploring migration, identity, and belonging through touch, storytelling, and collective making. Developed through community workshops in Lewisham, the project brings together textile practice, participation, and shared experience.

Echoes of Migration is an interactive textile sculpture inspired by the voices of Lewisham residents and the standing stones of Hilly Fields, quiet markers of history, place, and connection.

Shaped loosely by the topography of Manor House Gardens, the sculpture features a small “echo hole” at its centre, mirroring the lake and acting as a portal for reflection and shifting perspective. Made from reclaimed, naturally dyed textiles, its surface is layered with community drawings and embroidery, bringing together material, memory, and care.

The Crafting Connections workshops brought people together to chat, paint, and stitch in the open air. There was a calm, neighbourly energy, where simple acts of making created space for conversation and connection. Themes of home and memories of Lewisham became embedded into the fabric of the sculpture.

Participants shared personal reflections on migration, particularly second-generation experiences of growing up between cultures. These moments opened up rich, honest dialogue around identity and belonging.

The sculpture reflects Lewisham’s multicultural identity, fluid, diverse, and ever-evolving. As people contribute, the work grows into a shared expression of lived experience and cultural exchange.

The sculpture is now on tour to Hong Kong and Istanbul, and will be permanently housed at the Museum of Home in London.