Design, material culture and popular creativity in suburban faith communities

This project explores the ways in which suburban faith communities create space focusing on architectures, material cultures, rituals, music and performance. The project seeks both to analyse the dynamic cultural aesthetics of faith in one specific locality in suburban West London and to work with faith communities to support their creative engagements with this suburban location and the wider community. The project is founded on an ongoing theoretical engagement with the relationship between religion and suburban space, which combines historical and comparative research. It is also shaped by a sustained relationship with artistic and design practioners with whom critical approaches to both understanding the material cultures of faith and shaping new suburban faith spaces have been developed.

The project has four main aims:

- To investigate how the aesthetics of faith, and particularly migrant faiths are materialised and negotiated?
- To analyse the material cultures, practices and performances of faith in suburbia and to map these through community, public and domestic spaces
- To analyse how suburban faith communities engage creatively and meaningfully with their suburban locations and to seek to enhance these capacities.
- To explore how design and creative practice might be used to create new forms of community belonging for suburban faith communities

The project is based in Ealing in West London and focuses on eight different faith community case studies selected to represent different faith and migration traditions. These cases studies also represent different aesthetic and material cultures in their faith traditions and practices and in their buildings and community spaces. The project involves four main research strands: Survey and ethnographic work in all eight case study sites; ethnographic work with community members to explore home-based faith cultures and practices; ethnographic work on religious music and performance; three artistic projects which involve members from across the different faith communities. The artistic projects include an architectural design workshop focusing on creating a new space for faith in suburbia; a photography project exploring domestic faith practices; a creative making project focused on sharing the creative skills and practices undertaken in diverse religious communities.

Outputs from the project will include exhibitions in the locality and in central London venues as well as a traveling exhibition which will visit all of the eight places of workshop; academic papers and a co-edited book; project workshops aimed at academics, policy makers, cultural actors, the project participants and the wider public; public events including a performance; online resources and a permanent local museum exhibit.

Impact Summary

This research will be of significance to:

i) practitioners such as architects and planners and third sector organisations concerned with religious architecture, church history and urban heritage. These include: English Heritage, 19 Princelet Street Heritage Centre, Sikh Heritage Centre, British Muslim Heritage Centre, Westminster Diocese Archivist (RC), London Diocesan Advisory Committee on Architure (Anglican), Jewish Heritage UK, MakeSpace Architects, Joe Kerr (RIBA), Twentieth Century Society. This research brings together a theoretical framework and methodology for engaging diverse faith communities in architectural innovation and preservation.

ii) religious and interfaith groups concerned with interfaith dialogue and multiculturalism, including the Interfaith Network, the Church Urban Fund, Roman Catholic Archbishops Conference, The Dialogue Society, Council of Mosques, Board of Jewish Deputies, Institute of Jewish Policy Research, Centre for Faith in Society, Centre for Christianity and Inter-religious Dialogue (Southall), Three Faiths Foundation. This research will benefit from the insights of interfaith organisations but also hopes to offer a positive model of inter-faith dialogue at a local level which is centred on shared creative activities and shared engagement within a suburban locality.

iii) national and local cultural institutions including the Museum of London, Jewish Museum, St Mungo Museum of Religion, Gunnersbury Museum, Pitzhanger Gallery and Ealing Libraries. The project offers direct research material for Ealing's local museums but also seeks to build resources which may be shared with national cultural institutions focused on London and religion.


iv) national and local policy makers and other third sector bodies concerned with integration, community cohesion and interfaith dialogue including the Faith Communities Consultative Council, Ealing Integration and Cohesion Delivery Committee, West London Alliance, GLA, the Faith Based Regeneration Network, Runnymede Trust, West London Citizens. The inter-faith model developed in this research is of particular value to national and local users concerned with community cohesion and integration. The pilot photography project established links with West London citizens which will be further developed in this project as well as building partnerships with other relevant groups. The project offers a model for citizen participation and interaction which is innovative and creative.

v) Local history and civic societies including the Ealing Civic Society. The project develops understandings of suburban history and architecture.

vi) The national media particularly religious affairs correspondents of national newspapers and specialist religious publications including The Jewish Chronicle, The Tablet, The Church Times, Muslim News, The Sikh Times and local media.

vii) Members of suburban faith communities particularly those participating in the project

viii) The wider public.

Engagement with the user groups identified above will be undertaken through the following activities (See Impact Plan):

Participatory Creative Projects by commissioned artist practioners and the case study suburban faith communities.

Project Exhibitions at both local and central London venues, as well as online, will connect the concerns of the project with a wider public.

Project Events will bring together academics and key user groups, including architect practitioners, policy makers, religious organisations, planners and participating faith communities.

Project Working Papers and briefings sent to relevant user groups and media contacts.

Social media including twitter and a dedicated Facebook page will provide an interactive forum for a range of user groups.

Local Archives will benefit through the deposition of relevant archival and oral history materials, and through tailored local interest talks.