Jubilee Dress

The Queen's Coronation dress was the subject of an intergenerational arts activity 'Jubilee Dress' involving young girls, women and elderly care home residents in South Shields. Residents of Harton Grange, a dementia care home in South Shields, and young people from Bright Futures North East worked with Caroline in making cut paper and folded textiles to contribute to a dress sculpture made from Japanese paper materials.

A series of paper craft workshops involved participants in creatively expressing this cultural heritage through the medium of paper textiles. Paper cut and folding techniques formed the focus of workshops, to engage and reveal royal motifs whilst allowing participants to share their personal stories. Participants were involved in making constructed paper textile pieces, in both small and large scale, inspired by the floral emblems of the countries of the United Kingdom and those of the other states within the Commonwealth of Nations.

The final outcome was an origami textile sculpture in the form of a dress that incorporated the paper flowers made during workshop sessions. Jubilee Dress was exhibited at The Word, National Centre for the Written Word in South Shields within the 'The Extraordinary in the Everyday' exhibition in partnership with Equal Arts.

It has been really positive to see so much engagement through the Extraordinary in the Everyday Exhibition Programme and to support different ways the exhibition space at The Word can encourage creativity and curiosity. Caroline’s work inspired new ideas, creativity and collaboration across all ages, it was delightful to see the intergenerational work the Jubilee Dress and Wonderland art work enabled. Participants and visitors contributed to something greater than the sum of the parts in both pieces Caroline facilitated. It was brilliant to see the work evolve and grow in stature and so many visitors making a return visit to see the exhibition as a result.

Katy Milne, Cultural Programme Officer, South Tyneside Council