By Isle of Wight Observer
A travelling artwork, known as the “Coat of Hopes”, will arrive on the Island on Monday, February 9, for a five-week visit.
The coat, made from 700 stitched patches, carries messages about people’s hopes for the future of the planet. It has already travelled 2,000 miles around mainland Britain, and includes a patch created on the Island by St Helen’s Eco Church, featuring an image of the Isle of Wight and a white-tailed eagle.
Created by Barbara Keal, the project began in 2021, when the coat was walked from Newhaven to the COP26 climate conference, in Glasgow. Since then, it has continued to tour, collecting new patches along the way. People are invited to wear it as part of the project’s message that “the future of the planet is on all our backs”.
The coat will be welcomed at the end of Ryde Pier, at 10.30am on February 9. From there, it will be walked down the pier and along Union Street to Department, Ryde’s cultural centre in Cross Street, where it will be displayed during the venue’s “For the love of stitch” week.
It will then be walked in stages across the Island, visiting Newport, Carisbrooke, Brighstone, East Cowes, Ventnor, Freshwater and Yarmouth, before leaving to continue its tour on the mainland on March 16.
Helen Bradstock, of St Helen’s Eco Church, said she hoped many Islanders would meet the coat, walk with it, and add their own stitched hopes.
People interested in helping walk the coat can email coatofhopesiow@hotmail.com.
