Silver Thread Tapestries on tour

If you have been lucky enough to see Grayson Perry’s wonderful The Vanity of Small Differences on tour then you will have an idea of what Silver Thread Tapestries is all about. A project that brings together the delicate nature of sewing and community, telling stories of people, places and spaces.

Produced by Walsall Council’s now-disbanded Creative Development Team the project ran for nearly a year and involved hundreds of local people, both as storytellers and sewers.

The project was the brainchild of Creative Development Team Manager Maxwell Bailey who was awarded Arts Council funding for the project. Sadly Max passed away before seeing the finished pieces.

“People came from far and wide during the first three months of the project, to have their say on what should feature in each tapestry.” comments Deb Slade of the newly formed (out of the ashes of the council team) Creative Factory CIC.

It was the job of artist Hunt Emerson to turn their stories into illustrations which were then loving stitched into more than 12 square metres of fabric.

Each tapestry features a different area of the borough, capturing Walsall’s living history and diverse geographical communities.

With an Open Access award from Creative Black Country the team at Creative Factory CIC are touring the tapestries across the region as well as continuing to show them in different parts of the Walsall Borough.

The group are looking for new venues to show them, if you would like to host the tapestries please call Deb Slade 07583162137 or email creativefactory[@]hotmail.co.uk

For tour dates please visit creativefactory.org.uk or follow the tour on facebook via ‘Walsall Silver Thread Tapestries Project’.

2-30 June, mac birmingham
1-5th July, St Matthews Church, Walsall Town Centre
6 July, Collingwood Centre, Pheasey
11-30 July, New Art Gallery Walsall
More venues to be confirmed