Osterley Park Creative Community Art Project

About the Commission

The Creative Community Art Project is part of a long-term ambition to improve access to green space and heritage at Osterley in an inclusive way. By collaborating with local organisations and individuals, the project is gathering insights into the barriers that communities face in accessing places like Osterley—whether physical, emotional, or psychological. The commission is an opportunity to test ideas, build trust, and create a more welcoming and responsive environment for future engagement.

With community collaboration at its heart, the process included workshops   that were designed to encourage dialogue and shared creative expression. Each session focused on a different way of interacting with Osterley—through reflection, foraging, mapping, and textile work—culminating in three distinct artistic installations.

Community Groups

Working with community stakeholder experts Avsar Consulting, four groups were invited  to take park in creative sessions, each contributing to the development of three new artworks now on display at Osterley Park for the next year.

SWAT (Youth Club)   
SWAT is a youth organisation dedicated to connecting young people (ages 10-25) with nature and the outdoors. Based in Syon Lane, within walking distance of Osterley, the group provides a space for young people to develop confidence, creativity, and leadership skills. 

St. Anselm’s Primary School, Southall
St. Anselm’s is a vibrant primary school that places a strong emphasis on family engagement and creative learning. Keen to expand students’ experiences beyond the classroom, the school views Osterley as a rich educational resource that enhances their science and arts curriculum. 

C-Change (formerly Heston West Big Local)
C-Change is a community-driven organisation supporting families and young people through creative and well-being initiatives. Their focus is on encouraging long-term engagement with nature and heritage. 

Darpan 
Darpan is a voluntary-run South Asian cultural organisation, supporting families and older adults through arts, sports, and heritage-based activities. By bringing together different generations, Darpan fosters a sense of belonging and shared cultural heritage, using creativity as a bridge between past and present.

About the Artist

Jasmin Bhanji is a contemporary artist and sculptor focused on community engagement and education. With a background in ceramics, she has worked in studios across the UK and Nairobi, teaching and facilitating process-led workshops in schools, museums, and cultural institutions. Her research explores embodied learning and postcolonial narratives in art education. She is currently artist-in-residence at Arts and Media School Islington, an associate lecturer at the RCA, and teaches Art History at Morley College. Her practice challenges traditional hierarchies of knowledge and making through socially engaged collaborations.

Artist’s Process

Jasmin Bhanji’s approach was shaped by direct engagement with participants, a deep exploration of the layered histories, natural landscapes and connections to communities of Osterley Park and the surrounding area. Walking the routes between surrounding communities and Osterley revealed the layers of cultural history and connections , from Southall’s South Asian diaspora—established over 70 years ago—to historical landmarks such as the Indian Workers’ Association, founded in 1956 and the use of Osterley as a Home Guard training site during World War II and the classes in camouflage techniques that took place on site. 

Everyday observations—shops, markets, places of worship, and even the presence of parakeets and Egyptian geese, all fed into the project’s early ideas. With the tension between blending in and standing out became a central theme, resonating with ideas of identity, belonging, and visibility explored in the workshops

Bhanji’s artistic process was also shaped by contemporary artists who explore layering, reflection, and fragmentation as ways of expressing identity, such as Bhupen Khakhar’s hand-tinted park portrait—capturing both relaxation and unease—echoed the project’s exploration of presence and belonging. 

These walks, images, and historical research became a foundation for the project’s key themes: histories, migration, belonging, and cultural exchange. 

Developing the artworks 

Through reflecting and working with the materials generated, layering and reworking elements to uncover new connections, participants contributions were transformed into a cohesive series of artworks, blending personal expression with Osterley’s natural landscape and histories.

Leaf Rubbings & Embroidery - Children’s leaf rubbings were stitched onto hessian panels, preserving their spontaneous marks while embedding them into a larger composition.

Photography & Planes - Inspired by the youth group’s photographs, embroidered planes were added, mapping their experiences and observations onto the fabric.

Red Thread Connections - The mapping activity’s red threads became a stitched motif, visually tying together stories of belonging and movement.

Mirror Work - Shisha embroidery and reflective elements from the intergenerational workshops invited visitors to see themselves in the work, reinforcing themes of visibility and connection.

This Creative Commission weaves together the creativity of participants with the layered natural elements and histories of Osterley Park. Themes of visibility, connection, and belonging run through every aspect of the work—from the shimmer of mirrors to the red threads mapping personal journeys. Each mark, photograph, and stitch becomes part of a larger narrative, inviting viewers to reflect on both the artwork and the relationships and stories that shaped it.

Video

Exploring visibility, connection and belonging at Osterley Park and House.

Thanks and Credits

• Community groups and school for their time, interest and passion

• Jasmin Bhanji - Artist

• Lee Braham - Videographer

• National Trust Osterley Park & House Property Team

• National Trust London Programme