Online Making Workshops with The Turnpike

The Turnpike in Leigh invites you to a series of online-making workshops, a place to get together, be creative, have a chat, and share ideas and tips.

These Lancashire Women Are Witches In Politics is a collaborative project and interactive residency by Helen Mather and Anna FC Smith. It takes its initial inspiration from the history of the Leigh Female Reformers of 1819 and the monstrous representations of them in the media of the time. Drawing on this symbolism and elements of the reformers’ activities, the artists are researching and developing work with the Leigh community which weaves a new empowering language based on a shared history of place, myth, power and witchcraft.

The workshops will involve working with yarn to make tassels, and with clay to produce medal-like pieces of art, all inspired by the pageantry that the Leigh Female Reformers of 1819 adopted to state their own power. This work will be used to decorate the ‘hustings’ in The Turnpike when access is gained, adding to its mythological forest, currently behind closed doors.

All materials will be provided free in packs sent out to you in the post.

The 1 hour workshops will take place fortnightly on Zoom, and will be a gentle space to play, share in history and try things out with no pressure for perfection! No experience of working with textiles or ceramics is necessary at all. The activities will be simple tactile processes that are enjoyable and fun to do together.

Whilst there is no obligation to attend all the sessions it would be great if you can as the artists will be developing ideas across the sessions.