Welcome back to the Cloth Cultures podcast series. For season 3, Amber Butchart speaks to some of the artists and curators who are exhibiting at the British Textile Biennial throughout October 2023. Tune in to hear discussions focussing on some of the most pressing issues facing the textile industries, and its history and legacy today, from textile waste imperialism to regenerative fashion, and even the links between the depiction of witchcraft and weaving.
Season 3 Ep 1 – Amber Butchart is joined by artists Jeremy Hutchison, and Sunny Dolat of the Nest Collective. They discuss one of the major themes of the British Textile Biennial this year: textile waste imperialism. It’s a deep dive into how the trade in secondhand clothes from the Global North is mapped directly onto previous colonial routes and relationships, reproducing those same inequalities.
Season 3 Ep 2: Amber Butchart is joined by curators Uthra Rajgopal, Ligaya Salazar and Vancci Wahn who are each curating a group show for the British Textile Biennial this year. They discuss the practice of curating textiles, including themes such as indigeneity, craft practices, regenerative knowledge, and sustainability and labour.
Season 3 Ep 3 : Amber Butchart talks to artist Hendrickje Schimmel (Tenant of Culture), and Cottonopolis Collective researchers Arianna Tozzi and Ali Browne. They discuss their work for the British Textile Biennial this year, which includes investigation of pollution and the environmental impact of the textile industries, the problems with unchecked consumer culture, the life cycles of garments, and the intersections of cotton, science and agriculture.
Season 3 Ep 4: Amber Butchart talks to artists Nick Jordan and Jacob Cartwright, poet Emily Oldfield and English Heritage historian Andrew Hann. They discuss Larksong – a collaborative work by Nick and Jacob for this year’s British Textile Biennial which was a joint commission with English Heritage, and takes place at the nonconformist place of worship, Goodshaw Chapel in Rossendale. Tune in to hear about how hand loom weavers built the chapel, the connection between the land, music and poetry, the Larks of Dean, inspiration from the pre-industrial landscape and the history of the space.
Season 3 Ep 5: Amber Butchart is joined by artists Victoria Udondian and Ibukun Baldwin, both of whom are creating incredible collaborative pieces for the British Textile Biennial this year. Tune in for discussions on migration, clothing and economic empowerment as well as the power of clothing and textiles in storytelling.
Season 3 Ep 6: Amber Butchart talks to researcher Dr Mila Burcikova of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion and artist Rebecca Chesney. Tune in for discussions on fashion, agriculture, and regenerative potentials, festival textile waste, and the fashion seasons vs the actual seasons. As well as art and bees, and tending our wardrobes in the same way we would tend our gardens.
Season 3 Ep 7: Amber Butchart talks to artists Christine Borland and Eva Sajovic about everything from feminism to fustian. Both Christine and Eva are exhibiting at the British Textile Biennial in the area around Pendle Hill in Lancashire, notorious today for the Pendle witch trials in the early 17th century that saw 10 people executed for witchcraft. They explore the status, power and identity of women in early modern europe, and the changes brought about by the interconnectedness of the industrial revolution, capitalism and the colonial project, through to AI and its use in contemporary art.