Banner Culture from Mid Pennine Arts on Vimeo.
Join us for a walk around the exhibition Banner Culture, accompanied by music from the Commoners Choir.
‘A banner is a thing to float in the wind, to flicker in the breeze, to flirt its colours for your pleasure… Choose purple and gold for ambitions, red for courage, green for long cherished hopes.’ Mary Lowndes, 1909
A century ago it was women’s suffrage, and crusades for peace. Now we have climate emergency, #MeToo, Trump, fracking… and Brexit. Banner culture is all around us.
This spectacular exhibition with its forest of stunning, textile artefacts, included banner making in all its forms, from the dignified, traditional processional to impromptu DIY messages of dissent. Crowdsourced from heritage collections, campaign groups, artists and communities, it presented a kaleidoscopic view of a century of protest, belief and identity.
Key events were recalled that shaped our times: CND campaigns, the Miners’ Strike, Greenham Common, and perennial struggles with inequality. Some outstanding banner artists contributed: Durham Bannermakers, who keep vibrantly alive the traditions of the miners’ groups; Thalia Campbell, whose work captured the unbreakable resolve of Greenham women; Ed Hall, celebrated for his collaborations with Jeremy Deller; and Peter Carney, who made heart-breaking memorials for the 96 killed at Hillsborough.
Artichoke’s Processions project, for the centenary of women’s suffrage, contributed a wonderful body of work, and the Peace Museum in Bradford shared a precious collection that brings so much recent history to life. We thank everyone for their generosity in loaning us these precious artefacts.
Banner Culture was created for the British Textile Biennial by Mid Pennine Arts, as part of their Pendle Radicals project, in partnership with Super Slow Way. The exhibition took place at Northlight Mill, Brierfield, Lancashire between 5 October and 3 November 2019. Pendle Radicals is a part of the Pendle Hill Landscape Partnership, supported by National Lottery players through the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
More information, including a list of the banners and their makers/loaners, can be found on Mid Pennine Arts website: midpenninearts.org.uk/projects/banner-culture