2018
The inaugural Linen Biennale in 2018 included over 80 events: exhibitions, tours, talks and performances in locations from mills to museums that celebrated the richness of our linen heritage here in Northern Ireland and reached out to friends overseas.
From walking tours to weaving, contemporary design to opera, visitors and partipants alike engaged with the kind of skills, inspiration and possibilites that earned 19th century Belfast the name Linenopolis and linked heritage, tourism, arts, creative industries, business, charities and museums.
The Linen Biennale Conference in October 2018 brought together experts from across the globe and built on the growing international interest in the potential of cultural and creative industries to drive sustainable development and create jobs.
“Showing linen’s applications within arts, craft, design and technology from past, present and future perspectives give the linen story relevance to a wide range of audiences locally, nationally and internationally.”
– Selvedge: The Fabric of your Life
”Irish linen recently shown at Create in Brown Thomas are an interesting new way of recycling valuable silk accessories..”
“It's described as the first ever visitor experience store on the island of Ireland wholly dedicated to linen. Story boards, images and artefacts highlighting the city's linen heritage, sit alongside the wares of 33 leading linen entrepreneurs, including Katie Larmour, Mourne Textiles, Flax Fox, 31 Chapel Lane and Placed Ireland..”
“An exhibition focusing on the beautiful work of textile artists Wilma Kirkpatrick and Helen O’Hare, which has added to the textile collection at St Anne’s in recent years, has gone on display in Belfast Cathedral.”
Diocesan News
The External Linen Biennale Evaluation for 2018 has been published and can be accessed here.
2018 Evaluation
The Linen Biennale is grateful to these partners for making a lasting contribution to creating the first biennale of this kind in Northern Ireland.