The Legend of The Looms Open Day
1 February | 12-4:45pm | Free | Family friendly
Join us at an Open Day celebrating the launch of The Legend of The Looms at Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, in partnership with British Textile Biennial.
Ali Al-Jamri’s The Legend of the Looms is a short film and narrative debate poem between two ghostly handloom weavers: one from the North West, and the other from the artist’s home country of Bahrain. The ghostly weavers spar over whose life was harder, whose struggles were fiercer, whose folk poetry better, until maybe, they can find common ground to become friends.
The day will start at 12:30pm with the premiere of the film followed by a talk with the artist, where you can ask him all your burning questions about textiles, poetry and his performance. Then, attendees of all ages will have the chance to learn basic weaving skills with textile artist Ibukun Baldwin, who made some of the textiles in the film and installation. Using recycled materials, and classic weaving techniques, we will weave a new collaborative art piece together before the end of the day!
The Legend of The Looms exhibition runs at Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery from 1 February – 8 March 2025. It was commissioned by the Arab British Centre as part of As We Are, Might Have Been, and Could Be, is presented in partnership with British Textile Biennial, and is supported by Arts Council England and Freelands Foundation.