Borough Market and Textile Museum

 Friday October 6 turned into a beautiful, warm, sunny day.  High 21C!  It looks like the next week is going to be the warmest of our trip.  London is having some very nice and unusually warm weather (though it still cools down at night).  Apparently, they didn't have a very good summer, so everyone is enjoying the early October weather.

Mid-morning, we left for Borough Market, only a 10 minute walk from the apartment.  We wanted to pick up some provisions and then we were meeting the son of a friend from Victoria, BC, for lunch.

Lots of very cool shared work spaces in London-- this one two minutes from our flat.

Climbing the wall on Borough High Street

I am very taken with the Shard this trip as we are so close to it and keep seeing it from various angles and different streets.  The Shard is a 95 storey skyscraper in Southwark designed by Renzo Piano which opened in 2013.  It is the tallest building in the UK and the fourth-tallest building in Europe.

1000 years ago, a market took shape at the foot of the London Bridge.  Since 1756, Borough Market has been in its current location and is run by a charitable trust for the benefit of the community.  In recent years, it also has a focus on sustainability and short and transparent supply chains.  

We had briefly walked through the market in 2019, when we were last in London.   It has really blossomed since then and become a food destination for locals and tourists.   It was bustling at 11:00 a.m. on a Friday with people doing their shopping.   As well as the increased number of food purveyors in the Market area itself, the adjoining streets are full of cafés, restaurants and pubs.  It is fabulous being only a 10 minute walk from the Market.  

Lots of wonderful high quality cheese shops

Old signage

We got some fennel saucisson for a charcuterie plate.  We also bought some lovely pecorino in wine from a beautiful cheese shop; and a baguette from Olivier's Bakery.

Allan wanted a London bagel

Gorgeous fish -- also lots of oyster stalls

One of the entrances-- pretty busy at around 11:15 a.m.

We met Jonathan, our friend's son, at 11:45 a.m. and headed to The Anchor, a famous pub on the waterfront, for lunch.  Jonathan has lived in London for five years and works just across the bridge from the Market.

Outside of The Anchor

Rebuilt in 1676 after the great fire of London- the sole survivor of the river taverns of Shakespeare's time.  The pub was quiet at lunchtime, but Jonathan said it would be hopping after work.

Allan and Jonathan-- two Canadians in London

We walked back through the Market to a bank.  We had just found out that our £20 bills from 2019 were not good anymore as they had been changed to a light plastic coating.  (Our £5 and  £10 were OK as they had been changed prior to our 2019 visit).  We would have had to go to the Bank of England to change the bills, as we don't have a British bank account.  Fortuitously, Jonathan was able to help out by getting us some new bills.  We are also discovering that London is moving quickly to be cash free.  A number of stalls in the market, as well as coffee shops and even a large delicatessen we went into later in the afternoon are all cash-free.   

We passed the remains of the palace of the powerful Bishops of Winchester, one of the largest and most important buildings in medieval London.  The remains were of the Great Hall. 

We all went for a coffee at The Gentlemen Baristas on one of the adjoining streets to the Market.  The barista made Allan a very fancy flat white.

Very nice café-- founded in 2014

Great design on the flat white.

We then took the food we had purchased back to the apartment.

Play ball ... passing the spot where I posted a night picture

Oh no, not another Shard pic.

After we dropped off the provisions, we headed to The Fashion and Textile Museum on nearby Bermondsey Street.  It is the only Museum in the UK dedicated to showcasing contemporary fashion and textile design.  The Museum was founded in 2003 by Dame Zandra Rhodes (b. 1940), an icon of British design.  Today the museum is operated by Newham College, and offers a selection of educational courses, talks and workshops. In place of a permanent display, there is a programme of temporary exhibits, a few we have attended on past visits.  The exhibits are always excellent.  The Museum is housed in a beautiful and distinctive building, designed by renowned Mexican architect, Ricardo Legorreta (1931-2011).  Zandra Rhodes still lives in a penthouse apartment above the Museum!

The outside of the Museum - it lights up the block

There was a fabulous exhibit entitled: The Fabric of Democracy: Propaganda Textiles from the French Revolution to Brexit.   It was curated by design historian Amber Butchart and explores printed propaganda textiles over more than two centuries.  The mechanization of textile industries from the mid-18th century led to the development of print techniques that could create more detailed imagery on cloth, quicker than ever before.  These processes 'democratized' textile decoration, allowing governments and corporations to harness the power of print to communicate from wartime slogans to revolutionary ideals.  While propanganda is usually associated with public art and monuments, the exhibit explored how fabrics were used as a tool of the state across the political spectrum, from communism to fascism.

There were around 150 textiles and objects from many countries.  The research and sourcing of the textiles was remarkable.   The exhibit started with a quote from a 1928 catalogue for the exhibition Soviet Textiles for Daily Life which noted that fabrics were 'ideological goods that could have a sizeable impact on society.'  Textiles are not often considered to be political objects, but The Fabric of Democracy exhibit sheds light on some of the ways in which printed fabrics have been used to communicate political messages.

Scarf by Dewé, c. 1935-45.  Flags sit at the juncture of nation state, propaganda and textiles.  This scarf may have been created for the 1936 Olympics, which featured football-- note the swastika.  

Stead McAlpin printer's test, 1944- showing Royal Air Force emblem and motto 'per ardua ad astra' (through adversity to the stars).

Happy Landings- Stead McAlpin printer's test. Designed by Arnold Lever for Jacqmar, 1944.

There were a number of textiles with Jacqmar's "Red Star" design.  It celebrates the alliance with the Soviet Union during WWII, featuring the hammer and sickle and a proverb in the Cyrillic alphabet meaning hard work and labour will solve any problem and lead to success.

Red Star by Jacqmar- 1940s

Another Red Star scarf from the 1940s by Jacqmar

There was a section on maps and the WWII escape maps carried by flying personnel in case they had to bail out over enemy territory.  These maps were often made of silk, which prevented them from disintegrating when wet.  Surplus stock could be bought to supplement the wartime rationing of clothing.

Underwear set made from a silk map of Italy, c. 1944-45

There was a general section on "What is Propaganda" showing the importance of art and design to create and communicate a particular world view.

USSR pavilion at the Paris Exposition, 1937

Nazi Germany pavilion at the 1937 Paris Exposition, 1937, deigned by Albert Speer

Interwar ideological tensions were played out through architecture at the Paris Exposition of 1937.  The German and USSR pavilions faced each other in Paris.  The Spanish pavilion housed Picasso's Guernica, foreshadowing another world war.  Interestingly, we had seen these pictures of the 1937 Paris Exposition in the design part of the National Museum in Oslo.

First World War handkerchiefs, 1914- showing Britain's political allegiances

Woman's skirt of European chintz featuring Dutch West India Company ships, c. 1775-99.  "Glorifying European participation in colonization and slavery".

There was a section with amazing samples of Soviet textiles from the 1920s.

Airplane by Sergei Burylin, 1929-32, manufactured at Ivanovo-Voznesensk Factories

Demonstraton, 1927-29, manufactured at the First Factory of Printed Cotton, Moscow

Fascist Italy 1922-45-- Africa orientale Italiana scarf, 1936-40.  Features Mussolini and other leaders and celebrated Italian colonization of East Africa.

Lace with soldier, flag and double-headed eagle, 1914, made in Luserna, in modern-day Italy but part of Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of WWI.  Luserna was known for its bobbin lace traditions.

During WWI, lacemaking became a crucial part of the relief effort in Belgium, following the German invasion.  British naval blockades had cut off supplies, but thread was allowed in and lace was permitted for export, so lacemakers could raise money for food.  

'Vivatband für unsere Vierzehner' (Vivat ribbon for our Fourteeners), 1914-15, produced in Vienna and sold in Germany and Austria to raise money for the war effort.  Printed by Albert Berger who was a member of the Vienna Secession art movement.

Pocket square, 1945- features the names of the Allied Leaders, Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt and
Chaing Kai-shek.

In April 1942, Vogue published an article about Jacqmar titled Propaganda Prints, noting, "Scribbled slogans, narrative pictures are a print trend; so Arnold Lever of Jacqmar employs the slogans and stories of wartime England...all is done with propaganda purpose and an eye on export."

Fall in the Firebomb Fighters by Arnold Lever for Jacqmar, 1942-44

London Wall dress by Arnold Lever for Jacqmar, early 1940s and London Wall by Arnold Lever for Jacqmar, early 1940s.   Features morale-raising propaganda slogans as handwritten posters attached to a brick wall.  It includes the Winston Churchill quote:  we shall not flag or fail, we shall go on to the end.

The top three are from the 1930s and feature a painting from 1906 featuring a naval hero; military equipment, modern vessels.

Man's nagajuban (undergarment), c. 1942.   The design features an amphibious landing at night which could be a reference to Japan's assault on Malaysia in 1941.

Peace in our Time, 1938, references the 1938 Munich Agreement, which effectively ceded Sudetenland to Germany after its annexation of the area, in return for what Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain described as "peace in our time".  Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier and Mussolini are shown surrounded by aeroplanes and gas masks, highlighting the feeling of impending conflict.

There was another section on celebrations and coronations.  Printed fabrics are often found at these events, to commemorate as souvenirs, or demonstrate industrial prowess and economic prosperity.

New York World's Fair souvenir scarf, 1939 and Festival of Britain child's dress, 1951

Scarf commemorating the Berlin Olympics, 1936 and image of The torchbearer arrives to light the Olympic flame, 1936.  The 1936 Olympics saw the first Olympic torch relay as part of the drive to associate the Third Reich with Ancient Greece.

Flag depicting Edward VIII, 1936-37 and Flag depicting George VI and Queen Elizabeth, 1937

 Coronation commemorative dress, 1953; and Home-made coronation commemorative dress, 1953

The final section was on Propaganda Today.  The 2010s saw an increase in divisive politics.  This has been characterised by Venezuelan journalist Moises Naim as the three P's: populism, polarization and post-truth.  

Got Brexit Done tea towel, 2020.   The Conservative Party commemorated Britain leaving the EU
with official merchandise.

Fashion Hates Brexit, T-shirt by Katherine Hammett, 2017 and Second Referendum Now T-shirt by Katherine Hammett, 2018. The fashion industry was broadly in favour of Britain remaining in the EU.

We then stopped at the White Cube Gallery, also on Bermondsey Street.  The White Cube Gallery  is a contemporary art gallery founded by art dealer Jay Joplin in London in 1993.  It opened its location on Bermondsey Street in October 2011 in a former warehouse.

The White Cube Gallery

We saw an exhibit by Julie Mehretu entitled: They departed for their own country another way (a 9x9x9 hauntology).  The title of the show draws from the biblical verse Matthew 2:12, wherein God imparts a message to the Magi through a dream, cautioning them against the duplicity of King Herod, so that they return from paying homage to the infant Jesus as altered human beings.  Julie Mehretu was born in Addis Ababa in 1979 and lives and works in New York.  She is known for her multi-layered paintings of abstracted landscapes on a large scale.

Out of the Dreaming, 2022-23

Your Eyes are two blind Eagles, That Kill what they can't see, 2022-23

Very colourful and interesting pieces

We headed further up Bermondsey Street and stopped for a coffee at WatchHouse.

Outside WatchHouse-- in a beautiful small building 

Picture in the coffee shop of the building before it was fixed up in 2014.

We sat outside-- Allan had a coffee and we shared a piece of vegan banana cake with dates.

Park and church cemetery just behind WatchHouse

Shard from outside The White Cube gallery

The other end of Bermondsey Street ends in a tunnel

We returned to the apartment.  Allan prepared an excellent charcuterie plate with a green salad.  We had a glass of the wine our host, Louise, had left us.  A great first full day back in London.