Common Threads

Common Threads

Common Threads is the second edition of the Northern Ireland Linen Biennale’s headline group exhibition, where flax and linen—whether as story, medium, or substrate - serve as the common thread across a range of fine and applied art practices.

The 2025 exhibition, curated by artist and creative producer Meadhbh McIlgorm, will run from 21 August to 13 September in the Island Arts Centre, Lisburn.

It celebrates the slow, considered, and skillful labour of artist-makers. This year, an undercurrent of weaving runs through much of the work, highlighting interdependence over fragmentation: as in a weave, no thread stands alone. Instead, something is formed collectively through a series of crossovers and junctions. Weaving echoes life—our common ground, shared heritage, and collective material future are all interwoven with the politics of fibre and fabric.

Participating artists

Helen O’Hare & Wilma Kirkpatrick

Heidi McKenzie (Canada) 

Zoe Gibson 

Lucy Moore (RoI)

Maya Todd

Jude Fenton 

Margaret B. Russell (USA)

Andrea Dickson 

Sharon Adams 

Karen Hamilton 

Kathy Kirwan (RoI) 

Alison Pascoe 

Emily McIlwaine 

Claudia Rose

(cover image: Helen O’Hare & Wilma Kirkpatrick, photo credit: