Quiet Conversations

Dates:

19 February – 14 March

Opening hours:

Thursday – Sunday 11am – 4pm

In March 2020 everything changed. We have had to embrace armchair wandering instead of travelling. These times have called for a different kind of gathering. For a daily gift that lifts the spirit. For handwork that transforms the old and tired into something fresh and just a bit magical.

Initiated by India Flint, this exhibition shares tea-towels, humble utilitarian domestic textiles, that have been the companions of their stitchers during ‘the Great Pause’. Created by a group linked by a common thread around a virtual village well, using supplies found by rummaging in the ragbag (or the back of the closet), in the tea-towel drawer or in the linen-press. Making do with the resources found in hearts and home.

Close up of an embroidered tea towel. The words "uncertainty", "physical distancing", "lock down", "stay safe stay home", "wear face masks in public", "healthcare heroes, "panic buying" and "anxiety" are stitched onto it.
Chez Aitkin, A landscape of anxiety, 2020, hand stitched found tea towel
Close up of an embroidered tea towel. The words "can't fix stupid" are stitched onto it.
Gabriella van Diepen, Can't fix stupid, 2020, hand stitched found tea towel