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- Aug 19, 2021
- 2 min read
Goldsmiths - Jane Cameron, Textile Collection Curator
What does your role involve?
My role involves predominantly facilitating students, researchers, and artists using the collection as part of their studies and work.
As well as managing the exhibition programming, I am involved in developing and making the collections more accessible through supporting student and staff-led projects and wider community engagement initiatives. Our exhibition programming includes events, workshops, and performances alongside our regular Talking Textiles, a public event where a selection of material from our collection is made available for handling and discussion.
Can you tell us a little about the collection?
The Goldsmiths Textile Collection is a teaching and research resource comprising around 4,500 pieces, which includes teaching samples, embroidery, textile art and a small selection of global and historical dress and accessories. The material collection is complemented by a slide collection of previous students’ work, an archive of teaching material, and a reference library.
We are a public gallery and welcome all visitors from both within and out with Goldsmiths. Visitors can consult the reference library during opening hours and appointments can be made in advance to view items from the material collection by emailing textiles@gold.ac.uk
' The Demo is a work of art that is social, political, historical; it is both of its time and current. This narrative textile triptych packs in so much!'
What is your favourite piece of the archive and why?
The Demo (mid-1980s), by Catherine Walton
The Demo is a work of art that is social, political, historical; it is both of its time and current. This narrative textile triptych packs in so much!
The artist Catherine Walton produced this piece in the mid-1980s, so during the Thatcher years when there was a significant amount of unrest and political activism in the UK. While we cannot tell from the piece exactly what the demonstration is about, it does depict a scene that was common up and down the country during this period.
The innovative artistic use of a wide range of stitches, colours, and textures is employed effectively to narrate the scene. Superbly executed embroidery brings out the demonstrators' characters and emotions, juxtaposed against the featureless riot police (bar one whose guard slips, exposing their human vulnerability).
For me, it is emblematic of the wider collection and the power of textiles to extensively engage with communities, cultures, values, and experiences.
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