Earlier this week Blackburn Museum celebrated their 150th birthday!

Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery has been a critical partner venue of the Biennial since we started, housing a wide variety of our exhibitions from last year’s Penistone Cloth installation, to Unapologetic by Azraa Motala, Khadi by Bharti Parmar and our Homegrown/Homespun exhibition in 2021, and more throughout the years.

It is a cornerstone of Blackburn’s town centre and the heritage that surrounds it. This has all been celebrated throughout the week across a variety of events, including the fantastic ‘Tribute’ exhibition and event last night by Jamie Holman.

Photo – Jamie Holman

Some words below from Jamie:

“Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery opened 150 years ago as a tribute to the people of the town, from the industrialists who found fortune during the industrial revolution. The collections make visible the travels, acquisitions and artefacts that they brought to display to the workers of Blackburn. Thanks to these collections, we are able to link our heritage to contemporary communities and cultures, from the jacquard looms that birthed the first synthesisers, to the empty mills that housed the music they made during acid house a hundred years later. The textiles narratives continue with mill workers as founders of the football league and the sportswear their great grandchildren now wear, that has become ubiquitous with the football terraces, designed in the borough and named after people and places we may recognise, a spezial tribute in it’s own right.”

Congratulations to the Museum and all involved in its legacy, we’re excited to see what the future holds!

Photo – Blackburn Museum