Weaving Narratives

Stitching as a form of storytelling, with artists Nilupa Yasmin & Jessa Fairbrother. 

Co-stitch is a city-wide research project led by the Brigstow Institute (University of Bristol). The project brings researchers and community groups together, exploring communal stitching (embroidery, quilting, mending) as a form of storytelling. 

In collaboration with Brigstow Institute, we will commission two photographic artists, Nilupa Yasmin and Jessa Fairbrother, who both have a long-standing relationship to textile making. The artists will each create a new collaborative project, working with community groups across the city, with a particular focus on diasporic communities who have arrived in Bristol seeking refuge. The outcomes of these commissions will be displayed as part of the festival. 

The Artists:

Nilupa Yasmin is an award-winning artist and educator, who often produces work collaboratively with others. Her work explores ideals and traditions that are close to home, often drawing upon her own British-Bangladeshi culture and heritage. Her work is included in many public collections including: the Government Art Collection, The New Art Gallery Walsall and Birmingham Museums Collection. She is a Lecturer in Photography at Coventry University and a studio holder at Grand Union, Birmingham. 

Jessa Fairbrother is a British artist based in Bristol, UK. Often starting with the theme of the body, her work encompasses photography, performance and stitch. The artist book of her work ‘Conversations with my mother’ is held in collections at Tate Britain, the V&A, London and The Museum of Fine Art, Houston. Her work is also held in the collections of the Yale Center for British Art and Bristol Museum & Art Gallery.

These commissions are produced in collaboration with: