Purple Hibiscus

And here was my Sunday afternoon adventure: I went to see "Purple Hibiscus," the huge fabric artwork by Ibrahim Mahama at the Barbican.

"Purple Hibiscus" consists of about 2,000 square meters of handwoven cloth made by craftspeople in northern Ghana. The pieces, designed to precisely fit the building's dimensions, are so large that the artist rented out a football stadium so they could be woven and sewn on the field when matches weren't being played. The cloth -- about 20 tons of it -- was then brought to London and wrapped around the Barbican building, Christo-like, overlooking the Lakeside Terrace.

Embroidered into the cloth are about 100 garments called batakaris, which the artist collected from families across northern Ghana. According to the exhibition guide: "These precious textiles, often saved by families over generations, tucked away in wardrobes or stored below beds, carry the imprints of the lives, lineage and power of the figures they once clothed. Worn, degraded and bearing traces of years of use, these smocks are testaments to the endurance of traditional belief systems, and the continued relevance of intergenerational knowledge."

I think it's a fascinating creation and it certainly brightens up the Barbican's normally earthy concrete facade. I was prompted to walk all the way around to the other side of the lake, which I don't think I've ever done before, to see it in its entirety. (Walking to the other side of the lake is more involved than it sounds -- you've basically got to trace a circuitous path around the entire estate.)

I got a cup of coffee and sat out on the sunny terrace, people-watching, before walking to Farringdon station and making my way home again via the Thameslink. A perfect outing for a sunny afternoon!