The Legend of The Looms
Ali Al-Jamri | Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery | 1 February – 8 March 2025 | Free
Commissioned by the Arab British Centre as part of As We Are, Might Have Been, and Could Be, in partnership with British Textile Biennial
Supported by Arts Council England and Freelands Foundation

Working in film for the first time, Ali Al-Jamri’s commission titled The Legend of The Looms is an installation of poetry, film and textiles exploring shared revolutionary histories through handloom weaving. It features a filmed narrative debate poem between two ghostly handloom weavers: one from the North West, where weavers were critical in working class movements before, during and after the Peterloo Massacre of 1819; the other from Bahrain, where weaving communities played vital roles in reform movements. In this dramatised performance, the ghostly weavers spar over whose life was harder, whose struggles were fiercer, whose folk poetry better, until they find common ground and friendship. Filmed with the weavers of Al-Jamri’s own family in Bahrain, and in ​​Rossendale Valley, at a historic weaver’s cottage in Rawtenstall, the piece delicately dances between place, fact and folklore, creating a new myth that explores how people of the diaspora can relate to an unlikely new landscape through the interconnectivity of oppressions, craft, and mortality. The film is exhibited in installation format with the textiles featured in the film, for which Al-Jamri is working with renowned Manchester-based textile artist Ibukun Baldwin.

The film installation will be exhibited at Blackburn Museum, with the British Textile Biennial, from 1 February – 8 March. This work is supported by Arts Council England and The Freelands Foundation.

Project Credits

Writer and producer: Ali Al-Jamri
Film director and producer: Ricardo Vilela
Curator: Jessica El Mal
Additional footage: Mohammed Jassim
Textile creation: Ibukun Baldwin

About the Artists 

Ali Al-Jamri is a Bahraini-British poet, writer, editor, translator, and teacher. He holds the distinction of being an inaugural Manchester Multilingual City Poet from 2022 to 2024. His poetry, translation, non-fiction, and prose have found publication in esteemed platforms including Modern Poetry in Translation, ArabLit Quarterly, The Markaz Review, Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal, Harana, Rowayat, and anthologies released by Young Identity. His work has been showcased in events like Manchester’s Festival of Libraries, the Manchester Poetry Library, Longsight Art Space etc. He edited Between Two Islands: Poetry by Bahrainis in Britain and ArabLit Quarterly: FOLK, both in 2021. Dedicated to both English and education, he has contributed works to three anthologies for English teachers published by HarperCollins. You can see more of Ali’s work on this link: https://alialjamri.com/

Ricardo Vilela is an award-winning independent filmmaker, director and cinematographer based in Manchester, UK, for over 30 years, under the name of Sagitta Media. He has been working nationally and internationally, across filmmaking, live streaming, multi camera production and immersive media with a strong focus on the creative industries. Amongst others, his work has been recognised by The Royal Television Society, The Manchester Culture Awards and The Edinburgh Festival.

Mohammed Jassim is a Bahraini filmmaker. His 2023 film Bar Saar was the Winner of the Golden Palm for Best GCC Documentary at Saudi Film Festival, Best Bahraini Short Film at the Bahrain Film Festiva, Best Subject (Documentary) at Tangier Film Festival (Morocco) and the Jury Award, Aldhahirah International Film Festival (Oman).