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Crafts CouncilStories

We Gather sheds light on the ecology of craft created by Black and Asian women in Britain


ByEmi Eleode

11 January 2022

As the Crafts Council’s exhibition reopens, we speak to curators Rosie Ross and Griffi


Emi Eleode

11 January 2022

  • Exhibitions
  • Crafts Council exhibition

  • We Gather curators Rosie Ross and Griffi

‘We Gather comes at a pivotal moment for the Crafts Council,’ say Rosie Ross and Griffi, curators of the show currently taking place at the Crafts Council gallery.

‘In the organisation’s 50th anniversary year, it is important to ensure that new audience members have opportunities to access creativity. The way the exhibition has been put together aims to create a friendly and welcoming environment that allows visitors to reference their own experiences or cultures, and ignite a passion within them to engage in craft.’

Together with researcher Karen Patel, whose work highlights the challenges faced by women of colour in the craft sector, they have brought together the work of five women of Black and Asian heritage, whose projects contribute to the cultural significance of craft in the UK.

The exhibition’s title suggests the gathering of both different and shared perspectives, but it also recognises the communities who have gathered together their courage, voices and bodies in support of Black lives, whose perspectives have historically been omitted from institutional spaces. Specially commissioned pieces by each of the makers sit alongside found objects and ephemera from their studios to give a snapshot into their lives. Together, their work celebrates the potential of craft to unite, empower and uplift our society.

We speak with curators Rosie Ross & Griffi to find out more about the show and its significance at this particular moment.


  • Francisca Onumah's three vessels, collectively titled ‘In Our Skin’, reflect family, relationships and craft traditions in Ghana

  • Threads, by Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings, is a textile work exploring themes of identity, communication, heritage, and womanhood

What was the starting point for the We Gather exhibition, and what works and artists have been included?

Karen Patel, who is a researcher at Birmingham University, has been exploring the ways in which inequalities and racism affect makers in the UK. She wanted to commission some artworks in response to her findings, and she selected each of the makers: Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings, Lorna Hamilton-Brown, Shaheen Ahmed, Onome Otite and Francisca Onumah. We were then brought in to pull everything together in the Crafts Council Gallery, creating the context and narrative for the exhibition and ensuring it worked within the space.

There are a variety of scales, materials, textures and themes throughout the show. Onumah is a metalsmith who works with silver and copper, while Hamilton-Brown knits and crochets with wool yarns to create her subversive textile works. Mudawi-Rowlings has created a light installation incorporating naturally dyed and screen-printed textiles and Otite has used gifted fabrics for her figurative collage, which is inspired by the support network between women. Finally, Ahmed’s multi-layered works incorporate maps, calligraphy and Islamic geometry.


  • Onome Otite's textile collage is inspired by the support network between black female creatives, with figures based on those who have inspired her

What is the concept behind the show?

The title refers to the process of the artists gathering their ideas, skills and emotions to make their work, as well as Patel’s gathering of research and evidence. It also relates to the context of people across the world being globally restricted from physically coming together. At this significant point in time, we gather and celebrate each artist and elevate their work, while paying homage to and recognising the wider under-represented ecology, economy and legacy of craft created by Black and Asian women in Britain – many of whom haven’t had the opportunity to showcase work in an institution such as the Crafts Council Gallery.

Many of the works are commissioned pieces, such as Onumah’s vessels titled ‘In Our Skin’, which reflect family, relationships and craft traditions in Ghana, where her family comes from, while Mudawi-Rowlings’ ‘Threads’ work, which is a sensory experience that explores themes of identity, communication, heritage, and womanhood.

Tell us about the curation process

We visited each of the artists in their studios across the country. We wanted to show them as individuals, so it was important to bring elements of their personal stories into the gallery – displayed alongside the artworks are some of the artists’ personal belongings and items from their studios. For example, Onumah takes inspiration from African textiles for the textures of her metal vessels. She spoke about one of her father’s shirts that he would wear for special occasions and celebrations, so we included it in the show. These exhibits demonstrate the link between domestic life and how they shape artistic choices and provide context for the work.

We’ve also tried to present a holistic sense of each of these women as people and the wider network of makers of colour in the UK. You can see that through the inclusion of The Black Artisans project – a series of photographs celebrating UK-based Black craftspeople – in the exhibition.


  • Islamic calligraphy and geometry are layered up in Shaheen Ahmed's piece, 'Fortress Displaced'

  • ‘Woman Blue Elevate’ by Lorna Hamilton-Brown sees two knitted panels based on an old blues song, written by an unknown 18-year old Black woman in prison for murder

Can you share any stories behind some of the exhibited pieces?

Ahmed’s new work ‘Fortress Displaced’ (2021) reflects narratives of statelessness and disparagement. Layered with a multitude of craft processes and motifs including calligraphy and Islamic geometry, the piece connects visceral emotions with global issues through the manipulation of materials and physical application. She applies thick, bold paint strokes and Japanese sumi inks using freehand, improvised techniques, including working on the pieces while blindfolded.

‘Woman Blue Elevate’ by Lorna Hamilton-Brown are two delicately knitted panels based on an old blues song, by an unknown 18-year old Black girl in prison for murder. There have been many versions of the girl’s song subsequently recorded but all by white people. Lorna wanted to honour the unknown woman in her own right. In her own panel, separate from the other renditions of her song, Lorna carefully took her words and corresponded each letter of the lyrics with a coordinating number in the alphabet. She then used the corresponding numbers to create a punch card with its basis in the woman’s words. The young woman’s panel is displayed in front and elevated above the other verses in tribute to her creativity.

We Gather is on view at the Crafts Council until 12 March 2022


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