Out Shopping: The Dresses of Marion and Maud Sambourne (1880-1910)
2024-03-23 10:00 - 2024-10-20 17:30 (Europe/London) | Leighton House, 12 Holland Park Road, London, W14 8LZ, United Kingdom
Unveiling the Sambourne House collection of dresses belonging to Marion and Maud Sambourne, Out Shopping showcases nationally significant outfits, including rare surviving examples by leading – often female – dressmakers of the era.
Focused on the late Victorian period and into the 20th century at a moment in history that shaped the way fashion and shopping is consumed today, accompanying photography, letters and receipts paint an intimate picture of how fashion informed the distinct personalities of this middle-class mother and her affluent daughter.
Highlights include the blue skirt and jacket by eminent court and society dressmaker Sarah Fullerton Monteith Young, which Marion wore to her daughter’s wedding (1898); and Maud’s brown velvet embellished chiffon day dress by Mascotte (1906).
In the Tavolozza Drawings Gallery, ‘Out in Paris’ presents a selection of street photography by artist Linley Sambourne, taken during a weekend out in Paris with his wife Marion in 1906.
For the first time in the history of the museums, the exhibition spans across both Leighton House and Sambourne House, inviting visitors to embark on a immersive journey.

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Stitching the Intifada: Embroidery and Resistance in Palestine
2024-03-25 19:00 - 20:30 | Online Event
An event with Rachel Dedman, curator of ‘Material Power: Palestinian Embroidery’. All ticket sales to Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Embroidery is the most important cultural material of Palestine. This ancient practice, called tatreezin Arabic, is characterised by remarkable beauty and complexity. Beginning with an introduction to embroidery’s traditional making, this paper traces Palestinian embroidery’s adoption as a touchstone of national heritage following the Nakba of 1948, and argues for its subsequent politicisation, through PLO policy and the representation of embroidery by artists.
During the First Intifada uprising, 1987-1993, ‘Intifada Dresses’ were made and worn by women living in refugee camps and villages of the West Bank, and by those in the diaspora. At a time when Palestinian symbols were banned in public, traditional motifs mingled with doves, rifles, and signs of allegiance to political parties, embroidered in national colours. While protest is associated with immediacy, embroidery is by its nature hand-made, private and slow. Intifada dresses, years in the making, render material the conceptual and psychological strength of the Intifada, through the labour of women.
The lecture accompanies Material Power: Palestinian Embroidery, an exhibition curated by Rachel Dedman, currently on display at The Whitworth, Manchester, following a run at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, in 2023.

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Shirley Craven
2024-04-06 10:00 - 2025-05-11 17:00 | Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6ER, United Kingdom
An exhibition of vivid, colour-filled textiles by post-war designer Shirley Craven.

Born in Hull in 1934 and evacuated during the Second World War, Craven cites the rural Yorkshire landscape and her post-war education at Hull College of Art and the Royal College of Art (1955-8) as a launchpad to a hugely successful career at the printing firm Hull Traders. Aged 29, Craven became Chief Designer and Director of this small and visionary firm whose artist-designers also included Althea McNish and Eduardo Paolozzi. The Whitworth is home to over 80 of Craven’s bold abstract textiles, displayed together for the first time in over 60 years alongside newly acquired unique works from her days as a Student at the RCA.

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Suspended States
2024-04-12 10:00 - 2024-09-01 18:00 | Serpentine Galleries, Serpentine South, Kensington Gardens, London, W2 3XA, United Kingdom
‘Suspended States’ addresses the suspension of boundaries, whether psychological, physical, or geographical

British Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare’s new works examine systems of power in Western iconography and the legacies of European imperialism. Suspended States will include installations, sculptures, pictorial quilts and woodcuts. His quilts focus on the ecological impact of colonialisation.

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Careworn
2024-04-24 13:00 - 2024-05-14 17:00 | Constance Howard Gallery, Deptford Town Hall basement, New Cross, London, SE14 6NW, United Kingdom
Careworn is a collection of prints, drawings, and handmade garments by Sophie-Nicole Dodds will be exhibited alongside historical objects from the Goldsmiths Textile Collection. Presented in an archive-based format, the exhibition aims to facilitate a dialogue between objects and processes within the domestic space, emphasising both the act of wearing and care within the making process.
Dodds trained in Bespoke Tailoring at the London College of Fashion before completing the MA Design: Expanded Practice (Fashions and Embodiment) course at Goldsmiths in 2020.
Having worked extensively with the Goldsmiths Textile Collection during her MA, Dodds further developed her interest in and work with collections and archives through an ‘Illuminating Objects’ internship at The Courtauld Gallery, run in conjunction with the Science Museum.
In 2022 Dodds completed the postgraduate Year of Drawing scholarship at the Royal Drawing School and has since been returning to Goldsmiths to run drawing workshops with MA Design students and to continue her research with the Goldsmiths Textile Collection.
Exhibition Dates:
24 April – 14 May 2024
Mon-Fri, 1-5pm

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Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk
2024-05-04 10:00 - 2025-01-05 17:00 | V&A Dundee, Riverside Esplanade, Dundee, DD1 4EZ, United Kingdom
From samurai style and geisha chic, to Jedi knights and rock stars, explore the fascinating story of the significance, appeal and influence of this iconic garment.

Showing the kimono as a dynamic, ever-evolving icon of fashion, the exhibition traces its evolution and influence from 17th century Japan to today’s cutting-edge couture and street fashion across the world.
The beauty and importance of the kimono, meaning simply ‘the thing to wear’, is celebrated with an extraordinary collection of around 300 garments, accessories, paintings, prints, photographs and film clips from the V&A and collections around the world.
This is the final chance to see these rare works together on the last stop of the exhibition’s international tour.

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NAOMI: In Fashion
2024-06-22 10:00 - 2025-04-06 17:30 | V&A, Cromwell Rd, London, SW7 2RL, United Kingdom
Explore the unequalled career of the iconic fashion model

The first exhibition of its kind exploring the extraordinary career of fashion model Naomi Campbell. Through the work of leading global designers and photographers we celebrate her creative collaborations, activism and far-reaching cultural impact.

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Interconnected
2024-07-11 10:00 - 2024-07-17 17:00 | City Lit Gallery, 1-10 Keeley Street, London, WC2B 4BA, United Kingdom
The Textile 24 group is a collective of mature students who are exhibiting their final work after a 2 year Advanced Textile course at City Lit, London.
Their exhibition, Interconnected, runs from 12-17 July at the City Lit Gallery.
Private view 11 July, 6-8pm.

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Behind the scenes of The Conservation Studio at People's History Museum
2024-09-14 11:00 - 15:00 | People’s History Museum, Left Bank, Spinningfields, Manchester, M3 3ER, United Kingdom
Celebrate Heritage Open Days and go behind the scenes on a guided tour with People’s History Museum’s specialist conservators.

Learn about the world’s largest collection of trade union and political banners, how techniques of banner production have changed over time, and how we care for the museum’s collection today.
Get up close to objects currently being conserved, with demonstrations of techniques used, and learn about the process of preparing items for public display – including a rare general election banner from 1906.
While you’re here explore the main galleries, featuring the 2024 Banner Exhibition and the world’s oldest trade union banner.
Please note:

People’s History Museum is open 10am–5pm every day except Tuesdays.
The Behind the scenes of The Conservation Studio event is on Saturday 14 September, at 11am–12pm and 2pm–3pm.

Suitable for 12+ (under 18s must have an accompanying adult).

Booking required via Eventbrite
If you require British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation please contact access@phm.org.uk or 0161 838 9190

Event Details

High Waists to Romantic Tastes, Regency Fasion 1800 - 1837
2024-09-14 12:30 - 2025-08-30 16:30 | Chertsey Museum, The Cedars, 33 Windsor Street, Chertsey, Surrey, KT16 8AT, United Kingdom
This exhibition showcases rare and important examples of men’s, women’s and children’s dress from this pivotal and cherished era.

The Regency occupies a very special place in our imagination, particularly when it comes to fashion. It was a time of great elegance and innovation, which saw the appearance of daringly different dress styles.
With pieces drawn from the cream of the nationally significant Olive Matthews Collection, this exhibition showcases rare and important examples of men’s, women’s and children’s dress from this pivotal and cherished era. View iconic, simple and Classically inspired garments and accessories from the early 1800s, as well as the more colourful and complex creations which appeared later in the period. Long-standing favourites are revealed alongside items that have never been displayed before in what promises to be a stand-out exhibition.

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Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London
2024-10-04 11:00 - 2025-03-09 18:00 | Fashion and Textile Museum, 83 Bermondsey Street, London, SE1 3XF, United Kingdom
Centres around the legendary nightclub Taboo, opened by designer and performance artist Leigh Bowery in 1985.

Imposing ‘dress as though your life depends on it, or don’t bother’ as the dress code, the Taboo circle – which included fashion designers BodyMap, Rachel Auburn, John Crancher and Pam Hogg, dancer Michael Clark and pop star Boy George – sparked a scene that used the language of hedonistic excess to create fashion, art and popular culture.
Displaying original garments and accessories from Leigh Bowery and over thirty designers, including custom-made pieces from private collections and rare pieces from designers such as John Galliano, John Flett, Stephen Linard and Dean Bright amongst others, plus photography, film and artworks, the exhibition focuses on this vibrant alternative arena where the anarchic energy of the night spilt over into experimental creativity by day.
Image credit: © Brendan Beirne/Shutterstock – Leigh Bowery and Boy George in ‘Blitz’ Designer Collection Fashion Show at the Albery Theatre. London, 1986.

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Stitched: Scotland's Embroidered Art
2024-10-25 10:00 - 2025-01-18 17:00 | Dovecot Studios, 10 Infirmary Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LT, United Kingdom
A captivating new exhibition that unveils Scotland’s hidden textile treasures.

In an exciting collaboration with the National Trust for Scotland, this exhibition brings together an extraordinary collection of their embroidered textiles, many of which are being showcased for the very first time.
Visitors will have the rare chance to explore over 80 exquisite pieces, spanning 200 years of history from 1720 to 1920. The collection features everything from ornate armchairs and grand bed hangings to intricate fire screens, tablecloths, cushions, and tea cosies. Each of these finely crafted items, sourced from 18 of the National Trust for Scotland’s historic properties, will be displayed alongside histories of the makers and detailed design drawings, weaving together the fascinating stories behind these textiles.
As a result of a two-year research and conservation programme by the National Trust for Scotland, many of these delicate pieces are now in a condition to be on public display for the first time. By presenting these textiles as significant works of art in their own right, Stitched offers a fresh and inspiring perspective on Scotland’s rich heritage of embroidery and domestic interior design. Don’t miss the chance to experience these remarkable pieces and the stories they tell.

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Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection Open Day
2024-11-09 10:00 - 14:00 | Britannia Mill, Britannia Road, Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire, HD7 5HE, United Kingdom
A drop-in session for all to see the delights of the Knitting & Crochet Guild collection.

Drop-in and meet our Collection volunteers, find out what they do to care for the objects housed at Britannia Mill and view the objects too. If you’re interested in joining the Collection Team as a volunteer, this is a great way to find out more about what’s involved as well. This event coincides with the Spectrum Yarn sale, so do pop along to both!
Free to attend. All welcome.
NB. Access is up some steep steps and then stairs.

Event Details

Ptolemy Mann: Woven Colour
2024-11-09 10:00 - 2025-05-17 17:00 | Dovecot Studios, 10 Infirmary Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LT, United Kingdom
Ptolemy Mann returns to Scotland with her groundbreaking exhibition featuring her magnificent handwoven rugs and vibrant thread paintings.

Over the past 30 years, Mann has built a reputation for her extraordinary approach to textile art art, which marries the intricate techniques of hand-weaving with vibrant, expressive painting. Her work is renowned for its precision and depth, reflecting a profound understanding of colour theory and design.
Mann dyes the long skeins of thread and then weaves them on a loom, embedding colour into the cloth itself. Using an upright Dobby loom she creates carefully stretched, three dimensional panels that bring dynamic colour and geometric form to interior spaces. Her designs are inspired by colour theory and are reminiscent of the Bauhaus school where colours become three dimensional and vibrate next to one another. To create her rugs, known as ‘Gelims’ she uses an Ikat technique, where the weft thread of the rug is dip dyed to create a gently feathered transition between colours. In her latest series, Mann takes this expertise to new heights by applying acrylic paint directly onto her handwoven and hand-dyed cloths.
The upcoming exhibition in Edinburgh will be Mann’s second showcase in Scotland, the first being an exhibition at Dovecot in 2012 Ptolemy Mann: The Architecture of Cloth, Colour and Space.

Event Details

Socks: The Art of Care and Repair
2024-12-06 10:00 - 2025-03-09 18:00 | NOW Gallery, The Gateway Pavilions, Peninsula Square, Greenwich Peninsula, London, SE10 0SQ, United Kingdom
NOW Gallery is pleased to present its 2024 Fashion Commission, ‘Socks: The Art of Care and Repair’, by London based textile artist Celia Pym.

Focusing on the concept of sustainability in fashion and our lives more broadly, Socks: The Art Of Care And Repair will celebrate the everyday act of mending through darning. Central to the exhibition will be a vibrant, colourful installation of 488 socks, each stitched and darned by the Surrey Square Primary School community in Southwark using industry ‘warehouse’ waste socks. Children, staff and families of the school, learnt and practised their darning and stitching skills on socks, during a series of 26 workshops facilitated by Pym in early 2024.
In addition to the school’s mended socks, there will be a map of socks belonging to Pym’s friends and family – people she loves and cares for – mended visibly by Pym herself, in order to record patterns of wear and tear, and in styles that are designed to suit the respective sock-owners’ personalities.
The idea behind Socks: The Art Of Care And Repair is to encourage a feeling of resilience, to be able to mend something; to play creatively with colour and yarn, and to foster a sense of care for ourselves, our clothes, the environment, and the people around us.
Pym’s commission will transform NOW Gallery into a creative workshop space, with mending materials and socks to inspire the community to learn the art of darning. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own socks to the gallery to repair, and will be welcome to drop in and try their hand at darning, mending and stitching. Celia Pym’s interactive videos and step-by-step guidelines will invite all to create a unique ‘visible mend’ to either take home or put on display in the gallery. Throughout the exhibition run, visitors will also be able to book darning workshops at NOW Gallery facilitated by experts.
Celia Pym says, “It’s a small act of care to mend a hole in your sock or the sock of someone you love. It has a ripple effect. Caring for something or someone is expansive; it sets in motion something you can’t anticipate – a gift in return. Mending builds on what is left behind, it is an action that adds to the thing in front of you. It doesn’t erase damage but makes the story more interesting. A spot of bright colour, or a scar line, that indicates an act of care. I’m so pleased to be able to bring this to NOW gallery and to share some skills for all to learn and take with them through life”

Event Details

Tadek Beutlich: On and Off the Loom
2025-01-18 10:30 - 2025-06-22 17:00 | Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, Lodge Hill Lane, Ditchling, East Sussex, BN6 8SP
Explore monumental tapestries to intricate textile constructions and vivid relief prints.

On and Off the Loom offers a in-depth look at Beutlich’s remarkable career, affirming his reputation as one of the world’s leading textile artists.
Polish-born Beutlich, who made Ditchling his home in the late 1960s and early 1970s, developed a style that blurred the lines between fine art and craft. His bold, innovative approach to materials, combined with fearless experimentation, allowed him to continually reinvent his artistic practice.
After the Second World War he enrolled as a student of painting and drawing at the Sir John Cass Institute in London, transferring to Camberwell School of Art and Crafts and graduating with a degree in Textiles in 1950.
While still a student, he accompanied his teacher, weaver Barbara Sawyer (1919–1982), on a visit to Gospels, the home and workshop of Ethel Mairet(1872–1952) in Ditchling. Mairet’s imaginative use of yarns had a profound influence on Beutlich’s work, and in 1967, following Mairet’s death, he moved into Gospels.
Several striking works created at Gospels in the late 1960s will take centre stage in this retrospective, including Dream Revealed (1968), an eight-foot-tall weaving made from unspun jute, mohair, and horsehair, which hasn’t been exhibited since the 1969 Lausanne Textile Biennale.
Also on display are examples of Beutlich’s avant-garde open-weave hangings, incorporating materials such as charred wood, horsehair, and x-ray film.
Beutlich approached printmaking with the same innovation and freedom as he did textiles, printing without a press, but instead by walking on his works to make impressions. Vibrant relief prints such as Pollination I (c1973) made using Lycra, show his innovative style.
Tadek Beutlich: On and Off the Loom offers a rare opportunity to explore the ground-breaking work of a master of textiles and printmaking, while celebrating his lasting influence on the world of craft.

Event Details

The Textile Collection of Elisabeth Frink
2025-02-12 10:00 - 2025-11-27 16:30 | Blandford Fashion Museum, Lime Tree House, 11 The Plocks, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 7AA
See the textile collection of world famous sculpture artist Elisabeth Frink.

The exhibition includes textiles which Elisabeth Frink designed, including The Snowy Owl scarf, as well as American quilts and Japanese Kimonos which she collected.

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Reading the Thread: Book Launch with Lesley Millar and Alice Kettle
2025-02-22 12:00 - 13:30 | Royal West of England Academy (RWA), Queens Road, Bristol, BS8 1PX, United Kingdom
The RWA invites you to the launch of the book ‘Reading the Thread: Cloth and Communication’ on Saturday 22 February 2025, 12pm.

Discussing the book will be its editors Professor Lesley Millar MBE and Professor Alice Kettle and some of the contributing authors.
Reading the Thread: Cloth and Communication brings together artists, theorists and designers to explore the nature and use of cloth as a means of record and communication. Cloth is constructed from threads and, in acknowledging its qualities of recording or communicating a story, we are reading the threads.
The book explores, through imagery and ideas, the agency of cloth to shape and communicate the sensations and emotions connected with human experience. Divided into four sections on reading cloth, challenging the stories it tells, following the thread of its narrative and finally anticipating its future, Reading the Thread allows a variety of viewpoints and a diversity of voices, without favouring theory or specific cultural approaches, to interrogate cloth as a record of experience within its social, historical, psychological and cultural context. The authors explore our encounters with cloth and its role in the exploration of identity and biography, representative of passage, exchange, life and death.

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Sampled Styles
2025-03-01 11:00 - 2025-12-20 16:00 | Quaker Tapestry Museum, Friends Meeting House, Stramongate, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4BH, United Kingdom
Join us at the Quaker Tapestry Museum for our captivating new special exhibition on Quaker Samplers.

Sampled Styles is our first major exhibition focusing on Quaker embroidery samplers, exploring the evolution of styles, regional and institutional variations and examining what these works can tell us about the lives of Quaker women and girls. A number of key samplers from our collection will be conserved and displayed for the first time in the exhibition, along with our new acquisition, funded by the Beecroft Bequest.

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Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection Open Day
2025-03-08 10:00 - 14:00 | Britannia Mill, Britannia Road, Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire, HD7 5HE, United Kingdom
Come and see how we care for and store our Collection.

Drop-in and meet our Collection volunteers, find out what they do to care for the objects housed at Britannia Mill and view the objects too. If you’re interested in joining the Collection Team as a volunteer, this is a great way to find out more about what’s involved as well. This event coincides with the Spectrum Yarn sale, so do pop along to both!
Free to attend. All welcome.
NB. Access is up some steep steps and then stairs.

Event Details

Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style
2025-03-28 10:00 - 2025-08-17 17:00 | The Design Museum, 224–238 Kensington High Street, London, W8 6AG
Celebrating our century-long love affair with swimming and the influence of design on everything from swimwear to art deco architecture.

Splash! takes visitors on a fascinating journey through the design of swimming over the past century. Celebrating our love of water, this exhibition explores how swimming has shaped culture, fashion, and fitness since the 1920s.
From the rise of swimwear as performance wear to the iconic lidos that lined Britain’s coast, Splash! dives deep into the intersection of style, sport, and architecture. Curated by design historian Amber Butchart, it offers a refreshing perspective on how swimming influences autonomy, agency, and modern life.
Across three in-depth sections that reflect the three locations in which we swim — the pool, the lido and nature — the exhibition dives into design’s role in shaping our relationship with swimming, both in the water and beside it.
The exhibition’s story starts in the 1920s, when swimwear began to be marketed for swimming rather than the Victorian’s preference for bathing, and when beach holidays exploded in popularity. It explores right up to the present day, and swimming’s role in modern life such as how it influences and subverts our ideas of body autonomy and agency, as well as its link to environmental issues.
Discover over 200 objects, collectively exploring swimming’s evolution in its social, cultural, technological and environmental contexts, including Pamela Anderson’s sensational Baywatch swimsuit, the first Olympic solo swimming gold medal won by a British woman, and a selection of eye-catching men’s Speedos from the 1980s. Other objects on view are the banned ‘technical doping’ LZR Racer swimsuit, one of the earliest surviving examples of a bikini, and a detailed architectural model of the Zaha Hadid-designed London 2012 Aquatics Centre.
Splash! is guest-curated by Amber Butchart, a dress and design historian and broadcaster known for her history segments on BBC One’s The Great British Sewing Bee.

Event Details

Textiles: The Art of Mankind
2025-03-28 11:00 - 2025-09-07 18:00 | Fashion and Textile Museum, 83 Bermondsey Street, London, SE1 3XF, United Kingdom
Textiles: The Art of Mankind celebrates the ancient and deep entanglement between textiles, people and our world.

This ambitious exhibition introduces materials and methods that have produced cloth, but also the ropes, reins, bands and gut-strings that gave us ships, ploughs and carts, the ability to transfer electricity and make music.
Through the juxtaposing of stunning garments, dress and textiles originating from around the world, the exhibition aims to connect with everyone, proving the existence of a universal, shared narrative. Exhibition pieces express global identities as well as our cultural regard for animals. There are depictions of complex ideas, illustrations of the origins of computing in weaving, and the antiquity of the principle of ‘waste not want not’.
Also on display is work by UK based artist Lynn Setterington. Through textiles Lynn explores contemporary issues in society and how stitch can be used to commemorate people and communities.

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Woven Worlds: A Story of Creativity and Conservation
2025-04-28 09:00 - 2025-04-29 17:00 | Casa Hotel Conference Centre, Chesterfield, Derbyshire
Celebrate the international significance of the 16th century Gideon Tapestries at this specialist symposium.

In July 2023, the re-hanging of the last of the thirteen, 16th century woven tapestries, depicting the biblical story of Gideon and the Midianites, marked the end of the longest textile treatment project ever undertaken in the National Trust’s 130th year history.
Receiving High Commendation in the Museum and Heritage Awards, the project went on to win the illustrious Europa Nostra Award for the Conservation and Adaptive Re-use.
To celebrate this milestone of international recognition, Hardwick Hall and the National Trust’s Textile Conservation Studio have organised a symposium ‘Woven Worlds: A Story of Creativity and Conservation’ which will take place on the 28 – 29 April 2025.

Event Details

Speakers
Themes presented at the symposium will include tapestry patronage, impact and content around display, collaboration, research, discoveries made through conservation treatments, highlighting new perspectives and advances in general practice.

Helen Wyld, Senior Curator of Historic Textiles, National Museums of Scotland, previously Paul Mellon Fellow at National Trust 2007 – 2011, author of ‘The Art of Tapestry’
Historian David Adshead, previously Head Curator at National Trust and editor of ‘Hardwick Hall, A Great Old Castle of Romance’
Emma Slocombe, Senior National Curator (Dress and Textiles), National Trust
Pierre Maes, Director, Kononklijke Manufactuur De Wit, Belgium
Dr. Mark Webb, Researcher and editor of ‘The St Mary’s Hall Coventry Tapestry: Weaving Threads Together’
Ksynia Marko, former Advisor for Textile Conservation at National Trust, and author of ‘Woven Tapestry – Guideleines for Conservation’

In additional, conservators from Historic Royal Palaces, the National Trust and specialists from private practice will also speak at the symposium.
Tickets will be available February 2025. There are two types of tickets available for the symposium, online and in-person – please check this page on the National Trust website for further information about tickets and how to book.

Do Ho Suh: Walk the House
2025-05-01 10:00 - 2025-10-26 18:00 | Tate Modern, Bankside, London, SE1 9TG, United Kingdom
Enter the captivating world of leading contemporary artist Do Ho Suh.

Do Ho Suh’s large-scale installations, sculptures and drawings invite visitors to reflect on how we understand the home. The Korean-born, London-based artist explores themes of identity, belonging and displacement through intricate fabric architectures and life-sized replicas of past and present residences.
Moving between Seoul, New York and London, Suh’s work examines how personal and collective memory shape our understanding of space. The exhibition also features his delicate works on paper, early installations and new site-specific pieces. This comprehensive survey showcases three decades of Suh’s practice, offering a deeply immersive and thought-provoking experience.

Event Details

Soft Power: lives told through textile art
2025-05-16 10:00 - 2025-08-10 17:00 | Royal West of England Academy (RWA), Queens Road, Bristol, BS8 1PX, United Kingdom
This exhibition celebrates the skill and craftsmanship of textile artists with a series of spectacular and intimate works that tell stories about our lives and connect people across time and place.

The exhibition is curated by internationally-renowned textile art pioneer, Professor Alice Kettle, with curator of international textiles Professor Lesley Millar MBE.
Exhibiting contemporary artists
Anurita Chandola, Mona Craven, Sarah-Joy Ford, Enam Gbewonyo, Shelly Goldsmith, Kani Kamil, Sabine Kaner, Alice Kettle, Reiko Koga, Phillipa Lawrence, Lise Bjorne Linnert, Lasmin Salmon, Amneh Shaikh-Farooqui, Kari Steihaug, Susie MacMurray, Erin Riley, Maryam Wahid.

Event Details

Celebrating Stitchcraft
2025-06-14 12:30 - 2025-10-18 16:30 | Chertsey Museum, The Cedars, 33 Windsor Street, Chertsey, Surrey, KT16 8AT, United Kingdom
The display features the embroidery of talented textile artist, Darren Ball alongside selected items from the Olive Matthews Collection of dress and accessories.

When Darren was given access to the Museum’s archive he found inspiration in a wide range of objects. These included a beautiful 1912 theatre coat attributed to designer Paul Poiret, a glittering pair of evening shoes, intricately decorated 19th century bags and purses plus a wonderfully quirky yellow knitted bathing suit from the 1920s. These and other pieces from the Matthews Collection are displayed alongside Darren’s vibrant, intricate and original works of art. They allow visitors to draw comparisons and find new and exciting connections between old and new.
Darren Ball trained in Fashion Textiles, specialising in hand knit. His embroidery reflects his love of textiles and the visual qualities present in fabric and thread. He uses a domestic sewing machine to appliqué and free embroider personal narratives or ideas, inspired by memorabilia or his collection of vintage ‘Stitchcraft’ magazines. He aims to draw and paint with textiles, his mark making is achieved through sewing, contrasting surface qualities and embellishment.

Event Details

Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection Open Day
2025-07-12 10:00 - 14:00 | Britannia Mill, Britannia Road, Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire, HD7 5HE, United Kingdom
Find out more about the objects in the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection, and how they are cared for and stored.

Drop-in and meet the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection volunteers, find out what they do to care for the objects housed at Britannia Mill and view the objects too. If you’re interested in joining the Collection Team as a volunteer, this is a great way to find out more about what’s involved as well. This event coincides with the Spectrum Yarn sale, so do pop along to both!
Free to attend. All welcome.
NB. Access is up some steep steps and then stairs.

Event Details

IKEA: Magical Patterns
2025-07-18 10:00 - 2026-01-17 17:00 | Dovecot Studios, 10 Infirmary Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LT, United Kingdom
IKEA Museum’s ‘Magical Patterns’ exhibition comes to Edinburgh, celebrating 60 years of innovative textile design.

Magical Patterns explores six decades of groundbreaking textile design by IKEA. The exhibition features 180 iconic fabrics that showcase the rich history of the Swedish furniture retailer’s commitment to innovation, collaboration, and experimental design.
From the early days of bold patterns introduced by textile artists Bitten Højmark and Inger Nilsson, to the revolutionary works of the Swedish design collective 10-gruppen, Magical Patterns highlights how IKEA has supported the creative visions of some of the most influential textile designers, including Zandra Rhodes, Marimekko, and many others.
The exhibition provides a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process that has defined the iconic patterns of IKEA. Visitors will have the opportunity to discover the playful and vibrant designs that have shaped Swedish design, from the famous stripy RANDIG BANAN to the bold, colourful ANNIKEN broccoli motif. Featuring both vintage and contemporary fabrics, Magical Patterns offers a unique opportunity to experience how design trends and cultural movements have influenced the textile collection from IKEA.

Event Details

Warped and Wasted
2025-08-23 10:00 - 2025-10-11 17:00 | ACEarts, Market Square, Somerton, Somerset, TA11 7NB, United Kingdom
This ambitious exhibition will showcase an experimental, large-scale, collaborative art installation, made with 100% waste, existing second-hand or biodegradable materials.

This collaboration between 14 seam collective artists is an ambitious project which will highlight the issues surrounding textile waste and care for the environment.
The Warped and Wasted exhibition will be supported by Textile Talks, a one-day symposium on Friday 3 October 2025, both online and in-person. seam collective invites the public and their peers in the fields of textiles, visual arts and sustainability to join the conversation as they, and invited speakers, discuss issues of textiles and sustainability and add to the critical dialogue around sustainable arts practices locally, nationally and internationally.

This project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and has been made possible by the many individuals who donated to the seam collective Crowdfunder.
Warped and Wasted will be an inspiring experience, which will provoke thought, conversation and action around the complex issues of textiles, sustainable art practices and the climate emergency.

Event Details

Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection Open Day
2025-09-16 10:00 - 16:00 | Britannia Mill, Britannia Road, Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire, HD7 5HE, United Kingdom
Find out more about the objects in the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection, and how they are cared for and stored.

Drop-in and meet the Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection volunteers, find out what they do to care for the objects housed at Britannia Mill and view the objects too. If you’re interested in joining the Collection Team as a volunteer, this is a great way to find out more about what’s involved as well.
This event is part of Heritage Open Days 2025.
Free to attend. All welcome.
NB. Access is up some steep steps and then stairs.

Event Details
