As the legend puts it, Lady Godiva was
a wife of a greedy English aristocrat. Once she asked her husband to
lower the taxes and make his people's life more bearable. He agreed
under one condition. His beloved bride was to go around Coventry on a
horseback... naked. But the people were kind and grateful and
didn't look at her disgrace. As a result of that taxes got smaller, Lady
Godiva kept her pride and became a colourful element of the Midlands'
history. 'Lady Godiva Awakes' attracted a range of recognized artists including Zandra Rhodes, who designed custom made underwear and garments for the puppet. On longer distances the doll rode in a horse carriage put into motion by a large group of cyclists.
Rugby's part of the celebrations took place in front of the Art Gallery And Museum where a stunning decoration made by the local communities was set up. Kate Morris
- an artist and a community worker - was selected by the council to run
a range of workshops at schools and daily nurseries. A few months of
her work with children and adults resulted in the creation of a few
hundred meters long bunting which became the focal point of 'Lady Godiva Awakes Rugby' celebrations.
Each piece of the bunting was made precisely and individually and represented
something that Rugby is proud of. It was an educational lesson, as Kate shared a bit of inside knowledge about local inventions and
achievements. And so, if you didn't know, Lewis Carrol wrote 'Alice In
Wonderland' in Rugby, hologram was invented here and it is of course the place where rugby games started. The
drawings which appeared on the buntings were inspired with the town's history.
The
crazy and brave concept of creating a huge puppet and making it travel a
few hundred miles from Coventry to London actually worked quite well.
What more can I say? It brought people together and it was fun to be
there!
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Text: Maya Persson
Links:
Lady Godiva Awakes: http://www.imagineerproductions.co.uk/
Lady Godiva Rugby: http://godiva-awakes-rugby.yolasite.com/
Kate Morris: http://katemorris.carbonmade.com
Zandra Rhodes' fashion for Lady Godiva: http://london2012.cswp.org.uk/news?title=international-fashion-designer-joins-godiva-awakes
Cultural Olympiad London: http://festival.london2012.com/about/culturalolympiad/cultural-olympiad.php