A Dream of a Common Language
A series of weavings by SDC member Ali Holloway exploring ways of communicating through woven textiles and the fundamental connection we have with cloth
Overview
Showing as part of Shoreditch Design Triangle, the title of the exhibition is from a poem by Adrienne Riche, expressing the possibility and impossibility of connecting and communicating with other people. Ali Holloway uses that idea to explore how woven pieces of cloth formed of interconnecting threads, can communicate meaning – is it possible and what kind of stories can be told?
Some of these pieces reference the human body and the connection that makes with us all, while others are woven using yarn with encrypted messages. This is created by binding skeins of silk with string, incorporating dots and dashes of morse code that spell out lines of poetry, song lyrics or phrases that Ali selects. Once bound, the silk is then dyed, dried and the string ties unwrapped before Ali weaves with the yarn, embedding the message in the cloth in the process. Inevitably in the act of weaving, as the yarn travels back and forth through the warp on the loom, the words are jumbled up and no longer retain their meaning. They are no longer readable and so the possibility of communication is gone...
Where?
Town House Spitalfields
5 Fournier Street
London E1 6QE
When?
13 Sep 2025 to 28 Sep 2025
Opening Times
Tuesday - Saturday 11.00 - 18.00, Sunday 11.30 - 17.30
Price
Free admission
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