Rita Keegan

Amoke Kubat Once Water "I am aging in these interesting times of COVID and global unrest. My mind returns to places where I found comfort, solace and sanctuary. Water, I loved playing in water. The best water comes in a greedy slurp from the garden hose on a hot summer day. My happiest place was the Southern California Pacific Ocean. All was well walking this shifting hot sand, crunchy with shells. Or feeling the cool swirl of salt water and its tickle of sea foam around my ankles. In 2020, my mind returned to these spaces. I felt the warmth of an August sun, tasted the salt, floated on waves big and small. My mind emptied and my body released. I was gently reminded to “go with the flow of the water” and its possibilities. Return to the womb of all existence. Be safe. Be protected. Be well. I was Once Water too." This patch is a contribution to Rita Keegan's Trophies Revised Costume and Social Fabric train, 2021-2026. Now showing as part of Troublemakers and Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artist, @compton_verney , 28 Mar - 31 Aug 2026

Ruth E. Morgan @ruthmorgan5555 Untitled "Layers of time - pieced together References to friendship with Rita. Swiss spot. Own screen print." This patch is a contribution to Rita Keegan's Trophies Revised Costume and Social Fabric train, 2021-2026. Now showing as part of Troublemakers and Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artist, @compton_verney , 28 Mar - 31 Aug 2026

Virginia Nimarkoh @nimarkoh_projects Untitled This patch is a contribution to Rita Keegan's Trophies Revised Costume and Social Fabric train, 2021-2026. Now showing as part of Troublemakers and Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artist, @compton_verney , 28 Mar - 31 Aug 2026

Professor Georgina Obaya Evans @georgina.evans.750 Untitled "This piece is an homage to women and women’s actions in maintaining social cohesion -of- ten in the face of oppression and gender violence- with their (our) being, work, care, activism, community, creative technologies, and creations of beauty. My piece also speaks of my dual African (Nigerian) and British (Welsh) heritage. My mum’s father was a tailor, my mum was a seamstress, and she taught all her daughters to sew. The lace was handcrafted by women on my father’s side women I never knew. The HIV ribbons are offered in remembrance of the warrior women I met in Rwanda. I love sewing and I know Rita is a brilliant seamstress. As well as us being artists, this connects us, and the many people Rita brings together. I chose the wax fabric of this piece in Rwanda while volunteering during the summer of 2009. I was there offering yoga classes to support the wellbeing of women survivors of gender violence, many of whom contracted HIV as a result. The Rwandan women made me a dress from this fabric which I wore to Rita’s annual birthday party the following year in 2010. I had the most fabulous fun reconnecting with everyone after missing the celebratory gathering the year before. Rita’s summer party feels like a sparkling celebration of life, creativity, friendship, and joy." This patch is a contribution to Rita Keegan's Trophies Revised Costume and Social Fabric train, 2021-2026. Now showing as part of Troublemakers and Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artist, @compton_verney , 28 Mar - 31 Aug 2026

Elizabeth Oniri @quiltingmafia Are We? "I am acknowledging that we are all human and that race is a human/social construct. I also acknowledge that as humans we originate from similar forms of biological DNA. As individuals we are intrinsically different and unique, while making that statement, my response to that is a question, and that question is the title of my patch: Are We?" This patch is a contribution to Rita Keegan's Trophies Revised Costume and Social Fabric train, 2021-2026. Now showing as part of Troublemakers and Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artist, @compton_verney , 28 Mar - 31 Aug 2026

Ingrid Pollard & Olive Pollard, Untitled "This fabric came from a dress my mother wore a lot. It was the only dress I kept from my mother’s wardrobe when she died. The patchwork will be a way for her to live on in a different way: a new memory." This patch is a contribution to Rita Keegan's Trophies Revised Costume and Social Fabric train, 2021-2026. Now showing as part of Troublemakers and Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artist, @compton_verney , 28 Mar - 31 Aug 2026 #ingridpollard

Raju Sachi Singh, Untitled "My mother's curtains" This patch is a contribution to Rita Keegan's Trophies Revised Costume and Social Fabric train, 2021-2026. Now showing as part of Troublemakers and Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artist, @compton_verney , 28 Mar - 31 Aug 2026

Michelle Williams Gamaker @m.williams.gamaker Untitled "This patch of fabric is from my latest film The Bang Straws, 2021. My protagonist, O-Lan, wears this fabric as a headscarf – she is a farmer’s wife – but also in my film, facing and overcoming the structural violence of a film set based on the historic structural violence of British and Hollywood 20th-century film studios." This patch is a contribution to Rita Keegan's Trophies Revised Costume and Social Fabric train, 2021-2026. Now showing as part of Troublemakers and Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artist, @compton_verney , 28 Mar - 31 Aug 2026

Jacqueline Wright, Untitled "In the colour of the patch is the colourful world and how it can be, the beads are rain drops, the sequins are snowflakes, the heart beads are how much I love doing crafts, the numbers are the many different crafts to do, the blanket stitch is to cover the edges of the fabric, the patch was a time to relax and to express my ideas… I enjoyed working on it." This patch is a contribution to Rita Keegan's Trophies Revised Costume and Social Fabric train, 2021-2026. Now showing as part of Troublemakers and Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artist, @compton_verney , 28 Mar - 31 Aug 2026

Rehana Zaman @re.ha.na.na.na ghilaf "The fabric comes from the ‘ghilaf’ or sleeve I wrapped my Quran and religious books in when going to the mosque as a child. I’ve kept it all these years but never was able to find a good use for it – nor could I throw it away. The metallic tape was gifted to me from a student and the word ‘slow’ is a daily reminder: How can I embody slowness better?" This patch is a contribution to Rita Keegan's Trophies Revised Costume and Social Fabric train, 2021-2026. Now showing as part of Troublemakers and Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artist, @compton_verney , 28 Mar - 31 Aug 2026

Keegan Xavi @sallypop612 Wet Paint "For this project I made two patches. The first I just called Landscape and used the fabric scraps leftover from all the facemasks I taught myself to make in 2020. The first patch was more sculpt- ed, structured. I used a whole different part of my brain for this second patch and treated the fabric the way I would paper when I make collages. They say collage is “the poor man’s paint” … but I didn’t stop to think that you could paint with fabric as well. And that’s what this piece is a kaleidoscope of all the prettiest parts of the fabric without need or form or explanation. The process of not-thinking as I pieced the fabric together was beyond therapeutic. Colour makes me happy. Celebrating colour with this patch brought me joy." This patch is a contribution to Rita Keegan's Trophies Revised Costume and Social Fabric train, 2021-2026. Now showing as part of Troublemakers and Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artist, @compton_verney , 28 Mar - 31 Aug 2026

Althea Greenan @womensartwatcher Bitches Brew Archive Vibes "Rita in the archives glitters as the all-seeing mischief maker. She is at the centre of drawing in the stories and laughing with the dead, whose elegance outshines us. How can I resist this fabric of sugar skulls? I dress her up with beads and jewellery findings inherited from my cousin this past calamitous summer. I channel both their skills hilariously with my clumsy stitching, and pay tributes to her as I pay tributes to Rita and the alchemy of archive making. I sew brass archive paper clips for good voodoo luck for my work struggles with the archive. Give me strength! Give me a reason! And Rita laughs to remind me: colour, copy, frame, tell, listen, work together the social fabric that makes the grey boxes and acid-free folders open and dazzle." This patch is a contribution to Rita Keegan's Trophies Revised Costume and Social Fabric train, 2021-2026. Now showing as part of Troublemakers and Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artist, @compton_verney , 28 Mar - 31 Aug 2026