“Shown at Gawthorpe Hall, Alice Kettle’s Thread Bearing Witness is a major series of large textiles that consider issues of cultural heritage, refugee displacement and movement, while engaging with individual migrants and their creativity within the wider context of the global refugee crisis. The works present the individual and collective textile narratives of refugees and asylum seekers.” Alice…

On a cold October day we headed over the Pennines to Brierfield Mill to the Banner Culture Exhibition, organised as art of the British Textile Biennial. Although the theme wasn’t specifically focused on migration, we felt that the combination of arts and activism would highlight particular messages and techniques which resonated with some of our…

The Archive at Sunny Bank Mills is hidden gem of Leeds, housed within 4000 square feet of the historic Sunny Bank Mills, founded in 1829. This fascinating Archive consists of… Fabric records including over 300 guard books containing thousands of textile cuttings Over 60,000 lengths of fabric Over 8,000 fabric designs 5,000 wool dyeing recipe cards…

In September we visited Sunny Bank Mills to explore the site and visit the 62 Group exhibition in the gallery. The Mill was open as part of Heritage Open Days which gave us the opportunity to take a tour of the buildings with John, one of the owners of the business. It was great to…

On a hot day in July, our research took us to the Leeds Discovery Centre, a“state-of-the-art museum storage facility, storing and protecting over one million fascinating objects. From elephant skulls to a medieval log boat, mummy bandages and meteorites, the Discovery Centre offers a unique opportunity for hands-on exploration into the natural world, human history…

Our research has led us to explore other exhibitions inspired by the textile heritage of the North. Bradford has a rich history of weaving and Outside the Square explored the point paper patterns from local mills. “Outside of the Square brings together an exhibition exploring women’s role in the textile industry in Bradford. Starting at…

Our visit to Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills unearthed a tailoring gallery which explores how Leeds helped to launch high street fashion through the work of pioneers including John Barran, Joseph Hepworth and Montague Burton. The exhibition spaces showcase a range of machinery from mills across Yorkshire, explaining to visitors how the woollen cloth…