Come and have a grow: How the WOVEN festival is celebrating natural dyeing in Kirklees, UK
Our friends at the WOVEN Festival in Kirklees are about to embark on a fascinating month connecting heritage and innovation, academic research with art and craft – and creative expression with rich and diverse communities!
It’s all happening at the biennial WOVEN festival from 3 June to 9 July, funded by Kirklees Council and Arts Council England, and involving local residents, textile businesses, artists, and educational organisations including the SDC.
Our main involvement is as part of the Growing Colour Symposium at the University of Huddersfield on July 1 – for which places are now available to book.
You might also have seen our technical director Andrew Filarowski recently sharing his career in 100 seconds in a compelling video collaboration with the team!
Woven has been around since 2019 with a rich range of projects involving singing, stitching, knitting and dyeing.
Curator Natalie Walton told us: “Our latest initiative, Growing Colour Together, is all about natural dyeing. We want to make Kirklees one giant colour garden. Communities, schools, allotment groups, projects and organisations are joining together to grow, harvest, forage, dye and create with naturally sourced dyes.”
Natalie continued; “Everyone is invited to ‘have a grow’. We’re encouraging everyone to get growing, from absolute beginners to those with lots of growing experience. If you have a window ledge, pot, garden, allotment, school garden, community space… now is the time to get started.
“You can grow natural dye plants and use them to colour fabric, learning about the environmental implications of chemical dyes and what we buy. Our aim is to increase awareness of sustainability within the textiles industry.”
The festival and WOVEN project as a whole is also working to promote the range of career opportunities that exist within the textile industry.
Sign up to the WOVEN mailing list to be kept up to date on events and ways to get involved.