Needlemakers of Studley
Historic needle-making factory turned Artists Workhouse is to celebrate Redditch and Studley’s most famous industry. Artists and writers will put on an exhibition of sculpture, ceramics and painting which opens on Sunday October 30th at 7:30pm with a performance of original drama, poetry, prose and song. Doors open at 7pm.
The event will take place at Artists Workhouse, Royal Victoria Works, off Redditch Road, Studley B80 7AU. Website: www.artistsworkhouse.com. Tickets for the opening performance evening are £5. Spaces are limited so please book in advance by contacting Dawn Harris – email: artistsworkhouse@outlook.com or phone 07889 718242. The exhibition will continue from Wednesday 2nd until Sunday 6th November, open daily 11am – 4pm (closed Monday & Tuesday).
The factories made a huge variety of needles: haddock hooks, double pike hooks; hat pins; gramophone needles; surgeons’ implements – one needle was so fine you could barely see it. Even the insulation materials used in the NASA space shuttles were sewn with Redditch needles.
Now 14 artists, 10 writers and one director have come together in this unique collaboration in response to the needlemakers. They’ve been busy with research, making, thinking and writing since the Workhouse opened in January.
Do you have a connection with the industry? Or an interest in the industrial history of this area ? Book a ticket for the opening or come along to the exhibition and see a world inside a sewing machine box; fabrics stitched with rhymes and stories; reflections on pattern paper; a story in clay; poems about the Somme, about a tattoo parlour, about child labourers; a new needlecase, a new font, a song, a riddle, some noises, some shadows …
ArtistsWorkhouse 