The Bermondsey Street Festival 2014 saw the unveiling of The Shared – a beautiful sculpture which arose from the free community works held in Tylers Estate in 2012 by Austin Emery.
The 4.5 metre tall public sculpture was covered in veil created by fashion and textile designer Zandra Rhodes and unveiled by artist and printmaker Norman Ackroyd RA . Bring yet more creative participation to the area on Tyers Estate, the courtyard was decorated with 90 metres of bunting made by Snowsfields Primary School children.
See also: Leathermarket Community Sculpture Workshops
The Shared. Austin Emery, Portland Bath and Various Limestones. 2014
As a public collaboration between sculptor Austin Emery, the Leathermarket JMB and its community, The Shared was created as a monumental embodiment of the artistic and creative expression of the people. Through free stone sculpting workshops held on Tylers Estate Bermondsey in October 2012, over 100 members of the public, including children and adults, created their own individual pieces of sculpture. To solidify this collective experience and make visible the raw creativity of the participants, Emery has unified these individual artworks into a single vast totemic piece.
In addition to setting in stone at the personality of its present community, the shared also reinvigorates historic past energies by including and reworking old architecture from Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and brickwork salvaged from the London Bridge station redevelopment. Furthermore, to evoke a sense of living and growing future community, Emery has crafted animal habitats within the piece as well as adding his own subtle sculptural riffs and the artistic embellishments.
Emery’s enthusiasm, energy and vision that of the participants of the Leathermarket Community Sculpture Workshop 2012 has been outstanding and inspiring – much like The Shared.
The sculpture workshops were sponsored by Southwark Council, Leathermarket JMB, Team London Bridge, PAYE Stonework, Bermondsey Square Community Fund, Community First, Costain and Alicia Hollings.
About Bermondsey Square Community Fund
The Bermondsey Square Trust collects money from the occupiers and owners of Bermondsey Square through the occupiers’ leases and grants awards for ‘The marketing animation and promotion of the Bermondsey Square Estate and making a positive contribution to the wider neighbourhood and community of Bermondsey.’
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