The Textile Society

BY THE CUT OF THEIR CLOTH EXHIBITION
2022-05-01 - 2022-12-31 | Online Event
Spanning 300 years of Brent’s mixed race and multicultural history through the lenses of art, photography and fashion, ‘By The Cut of Their Cloth’ (BTCOTC) is our latest online exhibition.

Curated by The Mixed Museum and Brent-based artist and designer Warren Reilly, BTCOTC explores Brent’s rich multicultural and mixed-race histories. In particular, it continues in the tradition of the Brent 2020: London Borough of Culture project ‘Fashioning our History’ by using fashion as a lens to look at marginalised social histories.
We have been thrilled by the interest shown in the project since its start and we are delighted to now be able to share the wonderful material we have collected with you. We hope that the images and family histories uncovered by the project will help us all think about how we can open up and enrich Britain’s archives so that a wider range of the family histories that make up British history can inform us and be enjoyed by us all, now and in the future.
The exhibition is split into seven main sections, including:

Stories of Colonial Brent – A look at Brent’s colonial past
Multiracial Brent – Stories of modern migration and multiculturalism from the Borough of Brent
The Boy From Brent – Curating Warren’s ‘family archive’
Archive Discoveries – What we found in Brent Museum and Archives
Brent Stories – Brent residents and creatives share stories of their mixed-race and multicultural family histories with BTCOTC
Fashioning our History – Exploring stories of racial mixing and multiculturalism using fashion as a lens
Artistic Responses – Encouraging creative responses to historical accounts

We hope that BTCOTC will not only help bring attention to Brent’s long history of racial mixing but also show that the histories of ‘ordinary’ people are just as fascinating and valuable a resource as the stories of more well-known or influential people who are typically included in archive and museum collections.
Visit the exhibition: www.mixedmuseum.org.uk/BTCOTC

Event Details

Cotton: labour, land and body
2022-09-21 11:00 - 2023-03-04 17:00 (Europe/London)
Through textiles, films and works on paper, this free to attend exhibition explores how one of the world’s most ubiquitous materials has shaped the relationship between Britain and South Asia.

For thousands of years, cotton has been skilfully cultivated from seed to yarn and crafted into garments to support a growing expansion of trade and consumption. Today, cotton remains one of the most profitable crops in the world, yet the stories and histories that it holds are rarely told.
In this exhibition, visitors will be taken on an expedition across time, geographies, cultures and traditions, uncovering multi-generational connections between Britain and South Asia through the cotton industry in Lancashire. Featuring work by artists Raisa Kabir, Brigid McLeer, Bharti Parmar and Reetu Sattar commissioned by the British Textile Biennial 2021, it captures the impact of cotton production on labour, land and the body.
Journey through punched khadi paper (a paper made from 100% cotton rag) – echoing Gandhi’s campaign to end British rule – to coded Bengali script and job titles of production-line workers captured in handwoven and jacquard textiles.
Cotton: labour, land and body is curated by Uthra Rajgopal.

Event Details

KNITWEAR Chanel to Westwood
2022-10-15 10:00 - 2023-03-11 17:00 | Dovecot Studios, 10 Infirmary Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LT, United Kingdom
Dovecot presents this major exhibition of inspirational 20th century fashion knitwear in Scotland for the first time.

KNITWEAR Chanel to Westwood features over 150 inspirational knitwear pieces from the collection of Mark and Cleo Butterfield: highlights include 1920s Chanel jersey, vintage woollen swimwear, post-war Hollywood-style knits, and 1950s cocktail sweaters, 1960s crochet, 1970s Bill Gibb, 1980s Vivienne Westwood and 1990s Julien MacDonald.
The exhibition charts important designers and the influence of art movements such as Modernism, Pop, Punk and Deconstruction alongside new knitwear technologies and design innovation.
Exhibition organised by the Fashion and Textile Museum, London

Event Details

The Great Tapestry of Scotland
2022-11-01 09:30 - 2023-03-31 17:00 | The Great Tapestry of Scotland, 14-20 High Street, Galashiels, TD1 1SD, United Kingdom
Discover 420 million years of Scotland’s History, Heritage, Innovations and Culture with the Great Tapestry of Scotland.

The Great Tapestry of Scotland’s main gallery exhibits 160 panels depicting time from the prehistoric and the creation of Scotland’s distinct landscape to the reopening of the Scottish Parliament.
Scotland’s past comes vividly to life through the Tapestry’s stories of its people and landscapes. The panels dramatically tell tales of work and play, politics and religion, war and peace, sport and transport, tradition and innovation. Everything that is part of Scottish culture is symbolised, with the people of Scotland taking centre stage. Their stories unfold over thousands of years, from prehistory to the present day.
Explore history, listen to stitchers’ stories and discover the hidden details on the panels of The Great Tapestry of Scotland using the app or the interactive screens in the main gallery on the first floor.

Event Details
