A Dutch woman who has made a life for herself in the capital is aiming to showcase the best of the borough she calls home. Tisna Westerhof, 47, came to London to study for her Master’s degree a number of years ago – after completing this, she met her husband and had three sons.
Since settling down in New Cross, South London, the community feel and energy in the area made her fall in love with the capital. Now, she wants to help showcase the diversity of the neighbourhood.
Tisna spoke to MyLondon about the project and why it is important to her. She said: “For the last 10 years I’ve been running a gallery here in New Cross Gate called hARTslane, deeply involved in inter-cultural inter-generational community art projects.
“This past year I’ve been working on a community art project to ‘Come Dine In Blue’, with my partner Cristiana Bottigella. It is funded by Arts Council, Heritage Fund and Lewisham Council, where 100 local residents, with migrant or refugee backgrounds, created artworks, telling stories of identity and belonging, and celebrating the different cultures in Lewisham.”
The gallery will be transformed into an installation showcasing the different artworks people have created. People from all over the world such as Africa and Asia who now call Lewisham home have been able to take part.
“Seeing the families and children coming together to create was emotional. Some of the creations are quite personal and share special moments from their lives. People have lived here for like 50-80 years and it’s important for us to work with the local community and showcase them.
“The reason we chose blue and white is that it has been adopted by many cultures and they all have an affinity with it in a way. It was a nice starting point to make something with the locals and they felt comfortable enough to share stories about their lives.”
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