Make, share, connect

Join me at Cultures of Care Gathering for workshops, talks, films and much more. Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th July, Woodhouse Eaves, Leicestershire.

My weekend showcase of my two-year Cultures of Care project is coming up soon. The gathering runs all weekend 10-4, but there are some scheduled programmes and workshops that are part of it. You can come along to browse and enjoy the drop-in things for free, but you might like to try one or more of the programmed sessions. There’s a lot going on so this is a run-down of all the events over the weekend and what you can expect.

Cultures of Care talk

Saturday starts at 10 with a a 30 minute talk by me about the project and what I have learned from the two years of exploration and care. This will include discussions of the two nature-based residencies, learning and research about nature and creative practice and sharing some of the work I’ve made over the last year in the community garden. This is free but ticketed. 

This is followed at 11am by film screenings – as a prequel to my new as-yet-unseen film The Cloth Curator, I am putting together a series of short films going back to 2015 about my work and projects. Last year I created a film exploring my work around care in general, this will be followed by the new one, The Cloth Curator, which focusses on my textile history research and how that is the cornerstone of my practice. No tickets required for this. 

Next at 11.30 is the first of two textile handling sessions, one each day. In Saturday’s session I’ll be sharing my pincushions collection – both the series I made in 2015 as a memorial piece and my collection of historic pincushions dating from the 18th century. When I was a textile educator in museums, I used to run handling sessions regularly and it’s something I love to do. Most of us don’t often get chance to handle original artworks or fragile historic textiles but I love to share both. This is a ticketed session as there are limited spaces, but it’s just £2. Book here.

At midday I’ll be sharing a new project that I’ve just created with artist Sheila Ghelani. We have created a pair of artist books exploring the theme of Objects of Care. Mine is an exploration of studying textiles as a care practice, the same theme as the film and handling session before it. Sheila and I will be presenting these pieces and talking about the development. This is a free session, no booking needed. 

The rest of the afternoon is quite walking-oriented. The first year of Cultures of Care was centred around nature-based projects, and the two artist collaborations in that first year reflect that too. Firstly Karen Logan will talk about her walking skirt project. This grew out of a series of research walks we made together in 2023 and an exploration of a museum where the project was originally going to be shown.

She will follow her talk (free, no tickets required) with a one hour workshop, Words about Walking. In this session Karen will support you to add stitched words to your favourite walking clothes, thinking about what connects us to the landscape and to nature. This is a ticketed event, for £2 and you need to bring your garment, but everything else is provided.

The afternoon rounds off with a wonderful outdoor workshop. In year one, i worked with Mandeep Dhadialla to explore the impact of urban front gardens on wellbeing and ecology. She made a series if print and paper artworks which will be on display, alongside my textile pieces on the same theme. We’ll be talking about that project on Sunday, but on Saturday, Mandeep will lead a really lovely 2 hour mindful walk and draw session in the picturesque village to look at front gardens. There will be mark making, colour study and the chance to really think about how gardens impact our lives. This one needs booking, tickets are £5 and there are a handful left. 

Meanwhile, back in the village hall, there’s a couple of hours to explore artworks,  read books, drink tea, eat cake and have a go at some of the drop-in creative things we have on offer. 

Sunday

On Sunday we start with a Q&A with me and my project producer Meghan Hutchins. This is a recording for my Making Meaning podcast, with the chance to explore more about the themes of cultures of care, my working practices and future projects. you can also ask your own questions, which i look forward to hearing. This is ticketed but free. 

This is again followed by the film screenings, same as Saturday, and then a textile handling session. This time the textiles to explore will be from my collection of damaged and repaired cloth, including 18th century embroidery, Victorian dresses and old worn and used patchworks. These are some of my favourite, precious things and I am excited to share them with you. Tickets for this session are £2. 

Next come two talks with collaborating artists, firstly with Mandeep Dhadialla about our front gardens project, then with Hannah Moreton, who has created the Places and Traces community map. Both of these are free and drop-in. With Mandeep’s session you can hear about the research we did together and the work we have both made. The second part with Hannah and me will share the year-long project of walks and workshops in the countryside and the map that Hannah created with participants. I’ll also talk about the textile works I made for this project, called Embedded.

Hannah will then run a one hour workshop making a stitched paper memento of the weekend, using some of the gorgeous hand-coloured papers left from a workshop in the woods last autumn. This is ticketed and £2 per person. 

The final session of the weekend is placed here intentionally, it’s a slow, gentle and mindful session exploring dreams and relaxation. Artist Sheila Ghelani will lead A Restorative, a 2 hour session full of thinking and making. During the session you will make a dream pillow or eye cushion filled with herbs. I am adding a little to this session by providing beautiful vintage fabrics to cover your dream pillow. I am sure this will be a lovely way to end a really special weekend. This session must be booked in advance, it’s £5. 

And that’s it. A weekend full of creativity, curiosity, care and connection in the heart of the English countryside. I really hope you will be able to join us for this truly unique experience. Venue details and booking links for all the sessions are here, but remember you can just drop in for the unticketed elements and see what takes your fancy. I hope to see you there.

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