Material Worlds: Contemporary Artists and Textiles

This exhibition is in partnership with Hayward Touring.

Attenborough Arts Centre presents ‘Material Worlds: Contemporary Artists and Textiles’, an ambitious group exhibition exploring how artists are using textiles in surprising and radical ways. Illuminating the diverse roles textiles play in contemporary artistic practice, the exhibition brings together artists who take the intimate and domestic quality of textiles and transform them into theatrical, bold, unsettling and humorous artworks that inspire, challenge and offer new ways of thinking.

Featuring work created predominantly over the last decade by 15 UK-based artists, Material Worlds highlights their deep awareness of textiles’ cultural history and a shared desire to challenge its traditional associations, testing the material’s expansive and subversive potential. The familiar fabric of everyday life is reimagined into the unexpected—the ordinary made extraordinary—to reflect on ideas of gender, identity, community, race, technology, and myth, demonstrating the medium’s potential to transform in the hands of different artists.

Artists featured in the exhibition include Caroline Achaintre, Jonathan Baldock, Phyllida Barlow, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Alexandre da Cunha, Holly Hendry, Tonico Lemos Auad, Paul Maheke, Anna Perach, Yelena Popova, Paloma Proudfoot, Yinka Shonibare, Rae-Yen Song, Tenant of Culture and Zadie Xa.

Image: Phyllida Barlow, untitled: canvasracks; 2018-2019. Concrete, cotton-duck canvas, hardboard, paint, plastic, plywood, steel, tape, timber. Dimensions variable. Installation view, ‘Phyllida Barlow. cul-de-sac’, Royal Academy of Arts. London, UK, February 23 – June 23, 2019. © Phyllida Barlow Estate. Courtesy the Estate of Phyllida Barlow and Hauser & Wirth. Collection of Action 4 Equality Scotland. Photo: Damian Griffiths.

Gallery Opening Times:

Weekdays, 12pm – 5pm
Weekends, 12pm – 4pm

Exhibition Accessibility:

• Our friendly team of volunteers and gallery invigilators can tell you more about the artworks and artists.
• Sound and light levels can be adjusted.
• Seating is available in all gallery spaces.
• Gallery interpretation is produced in large print as standard.
• A braille guide for the exhibition is also available from the gallery desk.
• Film and video artworks are subtitled, or where this is not possible a transcript will be available.
• Ear defenders are available from the gallery desk.
• A full guide to accessibility and facilities information across our spaces can be found here.

If you require an adjustment that isn’t mentioned please contact us ahead of your visit and we will try to meet your request within our capacity.

Digital Guide

As part of Bloomberg Connects app, we offer a unique way to explore our venue and galleries. This free digital guide offers opportunities to learn about our current and past exhibitions, our upcoming events, video content, maps of our centre and more. It’s a wonderful way to stay connected and find out more – either while you’re visiting in person, or virtually. To learn more scan the QR code below.