New community arts project launches at Winterbourne House and Garden

A new community arts project focusing on traditional Indian textiles has launched at Winterbourne House and Garden. Henrietta Lockhart, Curator at Winterbourne, explained the origins of the project: "Owned by the University of Birmingham, Winterbourne is an Edwardian family home which is now open to the public as a museum and botanic garden. Opportunities to diversify our audiences are always welcome. In 2024, a member of our Advocacy Group, a panel of stakeholders which meets regularly to support our work, arranged a visit to Winterbourne for members of her Sikh Temple in Walsall.

"The group enjoyed all aspects of the site, but one piece of feedback took us by surprise. Some of the women were particularly excited by the William Morris textiles and wallpapers at Winterbourne, because the botanical imagery reminded them of traditional Indian design. William Morris was indeed heavily influenced by Indian textiles and Indian block printing techniques, and these women had instinctively recognised that link."

Following last year’s visit, plans were hatched to bring members of the Sikh community back to Winterbourne for a practical workshop, where they could create some embroidery and share items which they themselves had made in the past. Researchers in the International Centre for Heritage identified some funding, and in May 2025 ten participants spent a day here, taking inspiration from the garden and working with a craft practitioner.

The group first spent time exploring the plant collections in the glasshouses, which include tropical plants, alpines and cacti. Once the workshop got underway, participants were offered the opportunity to trace designs from vintage embroidery transfers in Winterbourne’s collection. Pressed plant specimens from the University Herbarium were also on display as inspiration. The craft practitioner introduced an upcycling element to the proceedings by providing table linen sourced from charity shops for the base fabric.

Henrietta reflected on the workshop, saying: "Several participants brought superb examples of their own work. For some of them, it had been several decades since they had made embroidery, and they enjoyed reviving old skills; they had embroidered items back in India in their youth, perhaps in preparation for marriage, but then abandoned those traditional crafts once they arrived in Britain. The climate here had often prompted them to redirect their skills to knitting cardigans for warmth!

"For others, it was the first time they had attempted embroidery at all. Ideas and skills were exchanged between friends and between generations. A University of Birmingham MA student of Indian heritage helped with planning the event and with interpretation on the day."

The resulting work was varied, colourful and inventive, and following the workshop it was immediately put on display at Winterbourne, with participants invited to bring family back to see their work.

Looking ahead, Henrietta said "This workshop enabled Winterbourne to engage with an under-represented audience, and to explore links between our collections and Indian intangible heritage. It was just the start of what we hope will be a much wider community engagement project. Depending upon funding, our plans for 2026 include a further series of workshops in which participants will learn and/or share a range of techniques including embroidery, block printing and clothing recycling, all taking inspiration both from Indian traditions and Winterbourne’s living and object collections. These workshops will sit alongside the collecting of oral history testimonies, and the acquisition of examples of Indian embroidery.