Ilkley Manor House will host a new exhibition this November that spotlights the intimacy and resonance of textile art.
Songs of Cloth runs 1–16 November 2025 (weekends, 11am–4pm) as part of OUR TURN, Bradford’s first visual arts festival.
Bringing together five artists — Hannah Lamb, Annie Fforde, Sarah Gamble, Pippa Hamilton and Lorna Jewitt — the show invites visitors to slow down and look closely. Through stitch, dye, imprint and surface, the works explore how cloth can hold memory, carry personal histories and speak to the ways we live with materials every day.
Curator Andreea Chitan said:
“In Songs of Cloth, the material becomes memory; cloth becomes archive. These works carry the traces of hands, histories and shared making. Textiles offer an intimate way of speaking about what is felt rather than seen. We hope visitors will pause, reflect and witness the stories held in each stitch.”
A centrepiece of the exhibition is Fabric of Memory by Annie Fforde, premiering as an OUR TURN festival commission. Working across traditional and experimental printing, Fforde layers fabric, texture and colour to evoke how memories are stored, altered and recalled in the folds of cloth.
Hannah Lamb contributes a suite of reflective works that map the intersections of domestic making, inherited knowledge and global histories of textiles.
In a collaborative thread titled DRIFT, Sarah Gamble, Pippa Hamilton and Lorna Jewitt pass works between hands, each responding in turn. The results move from delicate, minute stitching to richly layered textiles that carry multiple voices. Alongside DRIFT sit individual pieces by each artist, interweaving personal histories, landscape, archival material and the natural world across fabric and paper.
Songs of Cloth is curated by Andreea Chitan, a visual artist and curator whose practice brings together material heritage, craft, memory and identity. The exhibition forms part of OUR TURN, a programme designed and led by artists, delivered through South Square Centre in collaboration with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, Yorkshire Contemporary and Bradford Producing Hub, with support from Arts Council England and Yorkshire and Humber Visual Arts Network.
Whether you’re a textile enthusiast or simply curious about how materials can carry stories, Songs of Cloth offers a thoughtful, beautifully paced experience — the kind that rewards unhurried looking and invites you to feel what can’t always be seen.
The launch is on Friday 31 October from 5:30pm. The exhibition can then be viewed weekends until 16 November. Ilkley Manor House is open Saturday and Sunday 11am-4pm and entry is free.
Ilkley Playhouse unveils packed season of drama, comedy, music and live entertainment
GALLERY: Thousands celebrate Yorkshire Day in Ilkley
MP criticises lack of progress on Ilkley roadworks as Yorkshire Water extends working hours
Right at Home celebrates official opening of new office
The Little Calf offer free play sessions
Ilkley Civic Society launches search for the town's best building and conservation projects
Addingham Beer Festival returns this October
Veterans enjoy annual summer breakfast at Ben Rhydding pub
Ilkley garden centre wins top Outdoor Living award
Ilkley Care Home to host international food festival for the community
Yorkshire Day Weekend in Ilkley – ALL you need to know!
WATCH: Jason Manford gives 'honest' review of Leeds Bradford Airport
Alan Titchmarsh to judge Ilkley's new floral shop window competition
David Hockney's nephew opens contemporary art gallery in Ilkley
Cemetery guided walk exploring Ilkley's hydros history
Yorkshire Water confirms changes to A65 Skipton Road roadworks
Ilkley theatre group celebrate major success at Wharfedale Festival of Theatre Awards
Burst water main adds to A65 disruption in Ilkley
Silsden Community Centre launches fundraising appeal to unlock £10,000 for community project
Browns the Greengrocers to join Ilkley Market
