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Holly Graham: The Warp / The Weft / The Wake at Manchester Art Gallery

Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions Editor

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Holly Graham: The Warp / The Weft / The Wake

Manchester Art Gallery, City Centre
14 February 2025-15 February 2026

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Free
This image features a close-up of fabric with intricate, marbled patterns in various colors. The patterns resemble the swirling designs found in traditional marbling art. The fabrics display a range of tones, including dark greys, blues, teals, yellows, and red accents, creating a vibrant and textured appearance. The folds in the fabric highlight the material's flow and emphasize the rich detail of the designs.
Holly Graham
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Manchester Art Gallery presents: Holly Graham: The Warp / The Weft / The Wake, an exhibition resulting from the artist’s long-term residency and related research focused on exploring the ways in which memory and narrative shape collective histories. Graham accessed the city archives and looked into the gallery’s history to highlight legacies of expansionism, colonialism and exploitative labour inherent to the history of cotton.

The new work on display is realised in the form of a Victorian style cotton printed costume, modelled on the silhouette of a dress worn by African American abolitionist Sarah Parker Remond, and co-created with her mother Jennifer Graham, who used to work as a costumier. The display will remain in dialogue with the gallery site and its archives, taking a closer look at the textile collections the legacy of the cotton industry.

 

Accessibility

  • Captioned
  • Dementia-friendly
  • Parent and Baby
  • Relaxed

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