A multi-layered textile artwork based on the accounts of Bradford millworkers, including the voices of the many migrant workers who came to work in the mills.
Layering Cultures focuses on the clothing worn in the mills from the 1970’s onwards, referencing photographs of a cross-section of millworkers and bringing together a mix of cultures through their personal memories and life experiences. It takes the form of a bolt of cloth incorporating sections of garments, combining text, assemblage, hand stitching and machine stitching to examine and embody the social aspects of Bradford’s industrial legacy.
> Visit Alison Welsh’s website
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This exhibition was commissioned by 509 Arts and Saltaire Inspired in partnership with Bradford District Museums and Galleries as part of Lost Mills and Ghost Mansions.
Over the past nine months, 509 Arts and Bradford Community Broadcasting have been collecting the memories of Bradford’s older mill workers to map the city’s late 20th century textile heritage and amplify the voices of its diverse communities. The Lost Mills and Ghost Mansions team has interviewed over 70 mill workers from many different backgrounds to ensure Bradford’s world-class textile industry and architecture is remembered through an accessible database of stories, photographs, maps and preserved heritage.
509 Arts is an award-winning Bradford-based company with more than ten years’ experience of making and shaping work with local communities.
