| AdminHistory | London-born artist Alice Sielle specialises in painting abstracts. The aforementioned records are digital copies of original artwork, produced for the feature film 'From Cable Street to Brick Lane' (2012). The film, which was made to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, drew on the murder of Altab Ali and the centrality of Brick Lane. (for a link to the film visit: https://vimeo.com/51928978 - accessible 28/05/2024)
Her use of the abstract to showcase local landmarks can be seen in 'Stations of The Cross ' at St. Barnabas' Church, Bethnal Green. The work, which was commissioned in 2004, is a series of prints depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion, together with accompanying prayers. Small-scale linocuts have been framed and placed at regular intervals around the church.
Early in her career, Alice Sielle exhibited oils and water colours in the West Country, having studied at the Bath Academy of Art.* Local shows include, notably, an exhibition of monotypes staged at the Kobi Nazrul Centre in November 2015.** Inspiration came via the murder of Altab Ali (1978) and the role of Brick Lane as a hub for immigrants and people fleeing persecution. The resulting monotypes became integral to the aforementioned 'From Cable Street to Brick Lane'.**
Among other exhibitions are 'Dog Show '(1998); 'Hidden Art' (1998) and 'Six Ravens and A Website '(2010) at the London Exhibition For Shelter, Tredegar Square. Part of the site was an air raid shelter during World War Two.*** 'Altab Ali' (2016) and 'Hope Not Hate '(2018) were shown at the Brady Centre. Her work was recently shown at the gallery of the Swadhinata Trust.
Sources of information:
sielle.co.uk
'Stations of The Cross' (2004): Alice Sielle in artandchristianity.org
*'Paintings On Show ': p.21 in Somerset Guardian/Standard, 25th January, 1974 (British Newspaper Archive)
**'Brick Lane Monotype Exhibition Unveiled ', in banglamirrornews.com(November 2015)
***'Tredegar Square:Mile End History ' in romanroad.com
swadhinata.org.uk |
| CustodialHistory | These records were collected as part of a Bengali Collections Development project by Shahera Begum, Heritage Trainee during 2011. She also interviewed individuals and created oral histories, see collection ref: O/BEE and brochure 'The Bengali East End: Histories of Life and Work in Tower Hamlets'. Visit https://www.ideastore.co.uk/local-history-online-oral-history-bengali-east-end
This material significantly broadened the range of collections from and about the Bengali community in Tower Hamlets. If you would like to add further material to our collections please contact us. |