WOVEN in Kirklees

WOVEN is a biennial festival that first took place in June 2019, with the next big event taking place from 5th to 27th June 2021.

It is initiated and funded by Kirklees Council, but is owned by everyone, including community groups, textile businesses, cultural and educational organisations, artists and heritage sites across the district.

WOVEN’s theme is generations of innovators, connecting a strong heritage with today’s innovative developments in industry, university research, a strong arts and crafts scene and the creative expression of the district’s rich and diverse communities.

This year’s programme starts with the Big Rainbow Knit which will see Huddersfield Train Station yarn bombed with a spectacular, woollen rainbow coloured installation created by an army of knitters and crocheters. Look out for unique textile artist commissions in Dewsbury, family focussed fun with a window trail through Huddersfield, and celebrations of our Growing Colour Together project that encourages growing, foraging and using household waste to make and create natural dyes. Listen to I N T E R W O V E N, a unique soundscape of Kirklees’ mill heritage and present – a mixture of machinery, work, storytelling, brass music and boliyan

Working in partnership with Our Biennale – Children’s Festival, WOVEN welcomes families to have lots of fun together, explore the thriving textile industry on your doorstep and get creative with yarn. On Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th June there will be a series of live and online demonstrations, as well as the culmination of various projects that have been taking place in schools during the last year.

Look out for drop in activities taking place around the Piazza Shopping centre for families and children of all ages. Come and see an exhibition of large scale sculptures created by children and young people across Kirklees as part of Our Biennale and inspired by the Joanna Vasconcelos exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

WOVEN will also showcase the science and innovation of textiles with talks from The Space Shed, shining a light on all the incredible work happening behind the scenes in Kirklees that is inspiring the next generation of innovators.

The Space Shed is brought to WOVEN by Unlimited Theatre and is the Unlimited Space Agency‘s spectacular mobile HQ recently winning ‘Unique’ Shed of the Year! Appearing at music, science and arts festivals across the UK, The Space Shed plays host to inspirational storytelling shows, interviews with leading scientists and sets by guest DJs.

The final weekend of the festival, Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th June, will be a celebration of two long term projects, The Big Rainbow Knit and Growing Colour Together, where participants have knitted thousands of squares for the yarn bomb installations and explored the techniques and processes involved in natural dyeing and how they can be applied to textile art and making.

There will also be lots of talks, exhibitions, installations, open studios, workshops and even walks to get involved with throughout the festival.

For the full programme of events and further information about the festival visit www.woveninkirklees.co.uk

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