Cloth and Memory

On Wednesday 2^nd October 2013, my friends and I went to visit the Cloth and Memory Exhibition at the salts mill in Saltaire. After getting up earlier to get the train, we were very disappointed when we arrived to find that the exhibition didn’t open till 11am. As we had some time spare we wondered around Saltaire for a while and went for something to eat. Saltaire seems like a really nice place with wonderful views but we found ourselves with not much to do as it was raining. Finally the exhibition was open and we made our way back up the 4 flights of stairs and the huge salts mill.

When I first walked into the exhibition I was taken back by the size of the room. The width seemed reasonable but the length seemed to go on forever and although the ceiling was quite high, I thought the beams were low considering there would have been quite a few machines in that room years ago. I love how old and dirty the room looked at some parts and the texture of the cracked, peeling walls was great. I had recently watched a programme on TV named, ‘The Mill’, a historical, 19^th-century drama based on the lives of real people working at Quarry Bank Mill. This gave me an idea what the atmosphere might have been like in this particular environment for the women that worked here and how they may have been treated. Walking round I could only imagine what this room might have looked like when the mill was in full use.

At the beginning of the exhibition there was a video with a women explaining each art piece that was exhibited. I found this very helpful as it gave you a better understanding when looking at the work. The layout of the room seemed well at most parts as you found yourself easily moving round the room to each art piece, constantly with something to look at.

My favourite piece was ‘Reel Lives, 1891’ by Caren Garfen. An installation made with vintage wooden reels attached to the wall, each with it’s own memory plaque of the women that worked in the mill, some also have ribbon wrapped round with hand stitched information about the person. In a transparent box wedged in the wall there lay more wooden spools but these with embroidered memory plaques of women that were ‘abandoned by the mill’ after marriage or having children. There was also a white apron hung at one end with names and interesting quotes, such as ‘she was out of pocket’, embroidered into it with various coloured thread. I think the artists meaning for this work is to remember the women that worked in the mill but also provoke thought about how women were viewed and treated back then, before and after having a family. I love how this was able to show the history behind the mill and how life was for women back then but still made it interesting and personal by adding names and details of real women that worked there.

I really enjoyed looking round this exhibition and seeing how differently people can respond to the same space using various different textile media and thought process.