Making and Mending exhibition
I Made It Myself, detail, Jennifer Hollingdale, 2005
Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery shows what happens when you give the World War II mantra of ‘make do and mend’ a contemporary slant with their current exhibition (until 31 October)
It’s got together a diverse group of artists – including ceramists, textile artists, filmmakers and performance artists – and asked them to look at the old-fashioned idea of thrift. Inevitably this feeds into today’s concerns about the environment and recycling, so as well as the more traditional textile content you might expect, you get installations like Stephen Dixon’s Bush Pantry made out of old tin kitchenware printed with images exploring the less salubrious side of colonialism. Continuing the theme of environmental responsibility and re-cycling, the exhibition includes two artist-led craft workshops/performances. The first is Hilary Jack’s Plastic Bag Amnesty in which Jack helps visitors transform these reviled objects into things of beauty and the second is Celia Pym’s Mend during which she will physically darn or mend items the public bring in. The notion of mending also takes on a wider meaning in some exhibits, with work like Daniel Edelstyn’s film suite, Subverting the City, looking at the idea of mending entire communities.
Other exhibitors include Jennifer Hollingdale, who makes quilts often printed with images exploring ideas about thrift and poverty, and Freddie Robbins who will be showing The Imperfect, a new work developed from research Robbins carried out for last year’s exhibition Cloth and Culture Now.
www.burystedmundsartgallery.org
