The Witworth - Manchester

One of the main exhibitions which had caught my attention was the one titled Thread Bearing Witness by Alice Kettle. This exhibition had been discussed quite a bit by a lot of my peers and I was really confused initially as to why there was so much popularity and interest over some 'textile pieces'. As I went round and viewed the various pieces and read the descriptions that had been put alongside these pieces I understand why a lot of people wanted to see these pieces of work because of the contextual meaning behind the pieces of work. I had also flicked through the publication which had been created by Kettle containing her findings with working whilst working with refugees and incorporating their accounts of culture and things that they have faced whilst migrating from country to country. 

I think this was something that was quite important to have included within the gallery as well as other accessible spaces to include work covering topics like this as although these topics are discussed and shown on news outlets and programs, they do sometimes present a one-sided view of what is happening with migrants but being able to immerse yourself in an environment like this exhibition where there are large scale pieces of work containing very sensitive topics and things that have happened including the Blue piece especially as it had highlights of neon orange in the sea which had been embroidered to represent the lifejackets which had been left in the sea whilst people were trying to reach for safety. 

I was only able to find out this information by asking one of the gallery staff to tell me more about the pieces of work and how they interlinked together. She had informed of the collaborative aspect of this work. This can include working with people across the UK to stitch a small tree which has been added to a picnic at the Whitworth to represent their solidarity with refugees 'binding them to a movement of people who care whilst thinking about rootedness'. Getting refugees in the north-west to take part in the drawing workshop.  As well as this encouraging a group that they have worked closely with called English Chat ran by Syrian women which have been meeting, drawing and stitching things which have contributed to a quilt they have made collectively as well as sending messages out to the resident of the Pikpa camp in Lesvos.

This collective of workshops, as well as others, have contributed to three pieces of work which was initially the aim in order to act as a starting point to build creative relationships between people and continue the development of exciting collaborations too. 

I was really intrigued by the publication which had been made alongside this so I had decided to buy it as I really liked the considerations which had been made to the finishing of the paper as well as considerations made for layout, imagery and binding methods.