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Lancashire Textile Treasures
Lancashire Textiles Treasures is a collaborative project led by Gawthorpe Textiles Collection (GTC) in partnership with Super Slow Way (SSW) and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). GTC is one of the largest textile collections in the country. Located near Burnley, GTC is an accredited museum and independent registered charity with a focus on education, wellbeing and the preservation of traditional craft skills.
For the past few years GTC has been developing its relationships with the University of Central Lancashire and with arts commissioning organisation Super Slow Way (curators of the British Textile Biennial) regarding closer working towards a textile centre of excellence based in Lancashire.
The Super Slow Way is a cultural development programme based in East Lancashire. Founded in 2015 as one of Arts Council England’s Creative People & Places projects SSW have worked with their consortium partners over the last 6 years to develop programmes and projects to address the needs of local communities, and to enhance the cultural reputation of East Lancashire.
UCLan is one of the UK’s largest universities with a student and staff community approaching 38,000. Amongst its programme portfolio of some 400 undergraduate and 200+ postgraduate courses, the University has expertise in fashion & textiles, media and history and a thriving research culture in arts and heritage which has informed this project.
Resources by Lancashire Textile Treasures
Lancashire Textiles Treasures used the Gawthorpe Textiles Collection and other museum collections and heritage organisations in Lancashire as a catalyst for engaging and upskilling its diverse local communities to become digital community curators for a new online Lancashire Textile Gallery. It was important to build relationships, share information and encourage collaboration with participants. The project team used WhatsApp as a communications tool with participants between in-person sessions.
Lancashire’s Textile Treasures was a two-year collaborative project that used heritage textiles as a catalyst for engaging and upskilling local communities to become digital community curators for a new online Lancashire Textile Gallery. The project explored the cultural significance of textiles, learning from participants, creating connections, and drawing out personal, cultural, social and heritage-based stories.
