The Ropery (2026)
The Ropery takes inspiration from the unique histories of rope making in east London to create a participatory exhibition exploring the material processes of this fundamental but endangered craft.
Collaborative project curated by Kirsty Lowry and Helen Davison, with Designer Sanne Visser and film by Samara Addai. Part of Backyard Biennial: East.
Edge Effects (2024)
A participatory project taking inspiration from nature to shape a series of artist residencies with schools in East London. Workshops in school gardens and classrooms during autumn 2023, adopted a slow approach, guided by principles of permaculture to observe and interact. Activities included looking closely at trees and absorbing the histories of herbs to create light-touch responses through drawing, words and weaving.
Artists: Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck, Sonya Patel Ellis & Sam Ayre, curated by Kirsty Lowry for Whitechapel Gallery.
Selected The Guardian Design Highlights2024; Article: AD Issue 41, Art and the Earth Crisis special issue, NSEAD, 2024, ISSN 2046-3138
Flax Suite (2025)
Flax Exchange is an ongoing community project, led by artist Shane Waltener, advocating sustainable textile practices, with specific focus on growing flax from seed to process into linen thread.
As part of this project, Flax Suite (The Whitechapel Variation) was devised with 90 x year 3 pupils from East London; from growing flax seed to a final performance work exploring folk cultures and labour politics of traditional textile production.
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