Exhibitions

South Square Gallery plays an important part in the cultural life of Thornton by providing community exhibitions, events and workshops alongside our contemporary arts programme and it is committed to providing a platform and opportunities to new artists and curators.
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june

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  • Launching Friday 5th June, 4pm - 6pm
  • Last date to view, Sunday 5th July
  • Community Room

Come down for the highly awaited Year 10 Art show at Beckfoot Thornton school!

Students from year 10 art classes at Beckfoot Thornton have been working on a variety of different projects this year.

For this show, students have expressed themselves through three different themes; Recyclable, Abstract, and Monument.

With the chance to do anything desired to respond to chosen themes, students have created work in a variety of ways. Please explore our sculptures, paintings and many more.

Please feel free to sign the visitors book to let us know what you think!

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06jun(jun 6)10:30 am05jul(jul 5)3:00 pmBeckfoot Thornton Art Year 10 Show ’26Come down for the highly awaited Year 10 Art show at Beckfoot Thornton school!

Event Details

Launching Friday 5th June, 4pm – 6pm Last date to view, Sunday 5th July Community Room

Event Details

  • Launching Friday 5th June, 4pm – 6pm
  • Last date to view, Sunday 5th July
  • Community Room

Come down for the highly awaited Year 10 Art show at Beckfoot Thornton school!

Students from year 10 art classes at Beckfoot Thornton have been working on a variety of different projects this year.

For this show, students have expressed themselves through three different themes; Recyclable, Abstract, and Monument.

With the chance to do anything desired to respond to chosen themes, students have created work in a variety of ways. Please explore our sculptures, paintings and many more.

more

Time

June 6, 2026 10:30 am – july 5, 2026 3:00 pm(GMT+01:00)

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  • Friday 5th June, 6pm - 9pm

Join us for the launch of the South Square Centre Collage Club Exhibition!

South Square Collage Club emerged from an online collage workshop during a socially restricted Covid period in May 2021 for World Collage Day. People  all over the world joined in supported by remote hosts in South Square Centre and Exeter.. The local participants decided to continue in person once that was possible. Four years later there's a lively  evolving group who gather monthly in South Square Centre on a Saturday morning. The participants include people who are new to making art and people who have spent their lives creating. There's usually a theme linked to our interests but following it is entirely optional. There's a big selection of resources and a huge welcome to all.

This exhibition at Plenty of the Square includes a wonderful mix of the work the club have been creating over the past few weeks.

Last dater to view is Sunday 12th July.

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Oplus_32
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06jun(jun 6)10:30 am12jul(jul 12)3:00 pmSouth Square’s Collage Club ExhibitionJoin us for the release of the South Square centre Collage Club!

Event Details

Friday 5th June, 6pm – 9pm Join us for the launch of the South Square Centre Collage

Event Details

  • Friday 5th June, 6pm – 9pm

Join us for the launch of the South Square Centre Collage Club Exhibition!

South Square Collage Club emerged from an online collage workshop during a socially restricted Covid period in May 2021 for World Collage Day. People  all over the world joined in supported by remote hosts in South Square Centre and Exeter.. The local participants decided to continue in person once that was possible. Four years later there’s a lively  evolving group who gather monthly in South Square Centre on a Saturday morning. The participants include people who are new to making art and people who have spent their lives creating. There’s usually a theme linked to our interests but following it is entirely optional. There’s a big selection of resources and a huge welcome to all.

This exhibition at Plenty of the Square includes a wonderful mix of the work the club have been creating over the past few weeks.

Last dater to view is Sunday 12th July.

Oplus_32

more

Time

June 6, 2026 10:30 am – july 12, 2026 3:00 pm(GMT+01:00)

{"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "Event", "@id": "event_7129_0", "eventAttendanceMode":"https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode", "name": "Costing the Earth", "url": "https://southsquarecentre.co.uk/events/costing-the-earth", "startDate": "2026-6-5T22:30+0:00", "endDate": "2026-8-30T03:00+0:00", "image":"https://southsquarecentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Conferva-tibia_Photographs-of-British-Algae_Cyanotype-Imperfections-©-Mandy-Barker.jpg", "description":"
  • Saturday 6th June - Sunday 30th August 2026
  • Main Gallery
  • In collaboration with Impressions Gallery

Costing the Earth aims to highlight the negative and damaging environmental effects of fast fashion on our planet and the small actions we can do to make a positive difference. 

Costing the Earth is a group show presenting artwork of artists Mandy Barker, Alice Fox, Hannah Lamb and Atiyya Mirza, amplifying different ways artists are tackling the climate crisis. The four artists work with recycled or sustainably sourced materials to create photographic images, sculpture and textile artworks.

The cornerstone to Costing the Earth is Mandy Barker’s Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections, a homage to the work of pioneering botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799-1871) using a Victorian photographic process. Through this body of work Barker hopes to raise awareness of fast fashion, synthetic clothes, and the harmful effect of microfibres in the oceans.

Mandy collected fragments of disregarded synthetic clothing from 121 beaches, from John o’ Groats to Land’s End, highlighting that no coastline is exempt from plastic pollution. The items found range from jackets to dressing-up outfits, football shirts to underwear, salvaged from beaches, rockpools and directly from the sea. The items are representative of millions of tonnes of clothes manufactured and discarded each year.

Mandy Barker says, “It is my intention that conversation around Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections will lead to action and a shift within the fashion industry, with the aim of achieving an impact that will go on to change the world.”

Alice Fox looks at technical innovation while also revisiting ancient and Indigenous technologies that could shape a more sustainable future. Alice’s artwork explores the idea of creating a safety net for the world, using different materials for net making, from repurposed polyester fabric to hand twisted string from allotment grown plant fibres.

Great Women Chilling, a playful textile piece by Atiyya Mirza, explores womanhood, empowerment, independence and identity, inspired by the women in Mirza’s family. Atiyya uses scrap fabrics she has collected over many years and found materials, exploring ways of working sustainabily when creating artwork.

Fragments of a Dress draws from the precious scraps of clothing associated with the Brontë family, especially Charlotte Brontë, in the collection at the Brontë Parsonage MuseumHannah Lamb invited visitors to the museum to share stories about a significant item of clothing that they treasure, leaving a hand written note about the item and what it means to them. These touching and highly personal responses have been carefully embroidered onto silk organza, overlapping and layering a mesh of memories.

Hannah Lamb says, “Textiles and clothing can hold powerful memories, reminding us of people, places and special moments in our lives. Today, despite living in world of ‘fast-fashion’ and disposable attitudes to clothing, many of us still keep hold of things that help us to remember.”

The four artists have been invited to present existing work that reflects the exhibition’s broader vision of encouraging reuse, repurposing, and recycling.

Costing the Earth is an Impressions Gallery offsite exhibition in partnership with South Square Centre, part of Impression’s Summer of Sustainability.

Curated by Jane Hiley.

Image credit top: Gigartina Sunday, Photographs of British Algae, Cyanotype Imperfections © Mandy Barker

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06jun(jun 6)10:30 am30aug(aug 30)3:00 pmCosting the EarthCosting the Earth aims to highlight the negative and damaging environmental effects of fast fashion on our planet.

Event Details

Saturday 6th June – Sunday 30th August 2026 Main Gallery In collaboration with Impressions Gallery

Event Details

  • Saturday 6th June – Sunday 30th August 2026
  • Main Gallery
  • In collaboration with Impressions Gallery

Costing the Earth aims to highlight the negative and damaging environmental effects of fast fashion on our planet and the small actions we can do to make a positive difference. 

Costing the Earth is a group show presenting artwork of artists Mandy Barker, Alice Fox, Hannah Lamb and Atiyya Mirza, amplifying different ways artists are tackling the climate crisis. The four artists work with recycled or sustainably sourced materials to create photographic images, sculpture and textile artworks.

The cornerstone to Costing the Earth is Mandy Barker’s Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections, a homage to the work of pioneering botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799-1871) using a Victorian photographic process. Through this body of work Barker hopes to raise awareness of fast fashion, synthetic clothes, and the harmful effect of microfibres in the oceans.

Mandy collected fragments of disregarded synthetic clothing from 121 beaches, from John o’ Groats to Land’s End, highlighting that no coastline is exempt from plastic pollution. The items found range from jackets to dressing-up outfits, football shirts to underwear, salvaged from beaches, rockpools and directly from the sea. The items are representative of millions of tonnes of clothes manufactured and discarded each year.

Mandy Barker says, “It is my intention that conversation around Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections will lead to action and a shift within the fashion industry, with the aim of achieving an impact that will go on to change the world.”

Alice Fox looks at technical innovation while also revisiting ancient and Indigenous technologies that could shape a more sustainable future. Alice’s artwork explores the idea of creating a safety net for the world, using different materials for net making, from repurposed polyester fabric to hand twisted string from allotment grown plant fibres.

Great Women Chilling, a playful textile piece by Atiyya Mirza, explores womanhood, empowerment, independence and identity, inspired by the women in Mirza’s family. Atiyya uses scrap fabrics she has collected over many years and found materials, exploring ways of working sustainabily when creating artwork.

Fragments of a Dress draws from the precious scraps of clothing associated with the Brontë family, especially Charlotte Brontë, in the collection at the Brontë Parsonage MuseumHannah Lamb invited visitors to the museum to share stories about a significant item of clothing that they treasure, leaving a hand written note about the item and what it means to them. These touching and highly personal responses have been carefully embroidered onto silk organza, overlapping and layering a mesh of memories.

Hannah Lamb says, “Textiles and clothing can hold powerful memories, reminding us of people, places and special moments in our lives. Today, despite living in world of ‘fast-fashion’ and disposable attitudes to clothing, many of us still keep hold of things that help us to remember.”

The four artists have been invited to present existing work that reflects the exhibition’s broader vision of encouraging reuse, repurposing, and recycling.

Costing the Earth is an Impressions Gallery offsite exhibition in partnership with South Square Centre, part of Impression’s Summer of Sustainability.

Curated by Jane Hiley.

Image credit top: Gigartina Sunday, Photographs of British Algae, Cyanotype Imperfections © Mandy Barker

more

Time

June 6, 2026 10:30 am – august 30, 2026 3:00 pm(GMT+01:00)

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Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June 2026

The third Thornton Art Trail takes place over the weekend of 6 - 7th June 2026. Visitors will find a huge variety of art and activities in a range of venues. There’s art in private houses, workshops in galleries, open studios, open-air art demonstrations and much more. The trail can be started at any point. The total distance of a circuit is around a mile.

Find out more about the whole event here: THORNTON ART TRAIL

What are South Square doing at Thornton Art Trail?

Open Studios //

Many of the artists and creators onsite at South Square will have an open doors to their studios. Come in, take a look at their work, chat directly to the artists, and see their creative spaces.

Costing The Earth - Curators Talk with Jane Hiley // Main Gallery

Join curator Jane Hiley in discussing the exhibition in the Main Gallery, Costing The Earth.

12pm - 2pm

Art Doctors // South Square and around Thornton

The Art Doctors think creativity can be good for you.  They playfully break down barriers to participation in the arts and explore the positive role of creativity in all our lives.

Through playful conversation and consultation, they prescribe art works and creative activities that might make you feel better, help you to navigate the challenges of creative endeavour, and feel more confident talking about contemporary art.

They'll be in and around South Square, helping all you patients in need of some art medicine!

Times TBC confirmed

Charlotte Brontë - Senseless Trash tour // Sapgate Gardens to Brontë Birthplace

Join Charlotte Brontë on a phonic field trip over the Yorkshire Moors and listen in to the sounds that shaped the Brontë sisters’ lives. The howling winds at Top Withens, tranquil trickling of nearby waterfalls and the angelic tones of…Beyoncé will accompany you on your journey. Senseless Trash from beginning to end - don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

Oh, and keep your wits about you, for there are beasts on those moors… 

This event is held in partnership with The Brontë Birthplace.

Age guidance 12+. Audiences use silent disco headphones. Some walking/moving required (around 0.1 mile)

Times: 11am (Book for 11am) and 1:30pm (Book for 1:30pm)

Location: Meet at Sapgate Gardens

Performance by Philip Codd - In The Stone Tree Shadows // Garden

Philip Codd is a filmmaker and composer. As a composer he works with any combination of instruments and electronics, often creating audio works using musique concrète techniques in which short audio samples are edited and manipulated.  

In The Stone Tree Shadows uses audio clips created by scanning Patrick Whitehead’s prints of Bradford mills. These clips are then mangled and modified to create a sonic landscape of differing textures, rhythms and sonorities, with elements of the piece suggesting Bradford’s industrial past. The work will be performed using live electronics and fed through a surround sound diffusion speaker system.  

Performances are in the garden at the back of South Square at 11:30, 13:00 and 14:30 on Saturday 6th and  12:30 and 14:00 on Sunday 7th June.  The piece is 20 minutes in duration. 

To visit Philip's website click here

More details to be shared soon!

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06jun(jun 6)11:00 am07(jun 7)4:00 pmFeaturedThornton Art TrailThornton Art Trail returns bringing a weekend full of exhibitions, workshops, activities and more!

Event Details

Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June 2026 The third Thornton Art Trail takes place over the weekend of 6 – 7th

Event Details

Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June 2026

The third Thornton Art Trail takes place over the weekend of 6 – 7th June 2026. Visitors will find a huge variety of art and activities in a range of venues. There’s art in private houses, workshops in galleries, open studios, open-air art demonstrations and much more. The trail can be started at any point. The total distance of a circuit is around a mile.

Find out more about the whole event here: THORNTON ART TRAIL

What are South Square doing at Thornton Art Trail?

Open Studios //

Many of the artists and creators onsite at South Square will have an open doors to their studios. Come in, take a look at their work, chat directly to the artists, and see their creative spaces.

Costing The Earth – Curators Talk with Jane Hiley // Main Gallery

Join curator Jane Hiley in discussing the exhibition in the Main Gallery, Costing The Earth.

12pm – 2pm

Art Doctors // South Square and around Thornton

The Art Doctors think creativity can be good for you.  They playfully break down barriers to participation in the arts and explore the positive role of creativity in all our lives.

Through playful conversation and consultation, they prescribe art works and creative activities that might make you feel better, help you to navigate the challenges of creative endeavour, and feel more confident talking about contemporary art.

They’ll be in and around South Square, helping all you patients in need of some art medicine!

Times TBC confirmed

Charlotte Brontë – Senseless Trash tour // Sapgate Gardens to Brontë Birthplace

Join Charlotte Brontë on a phonic field trip over the Yorkshire Moors and listen in to the sounds that shaped the Brontë sisters’ lives. The howling winds at Top Withens, tranquil trickling of nearby waterfalls and the angelic tones of…Beyoncé will accompany you on your journey. Senseless Trash from beginning to end – don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

Oh, and keep your wits about you, for there are beasts on those moors… 

This event is held in partnership with The Brontë Birthplace.

Age guidance 12+. Audiences use silent disco headphones. Some walking/moving required (around 0.1 mile)

Times: 11am (Book for 11am) and 1:30pm (Book for 1:30pm)

Location: Meet at Sapgate Gardens

Performance by Philip Codd – In The Stone Tree Shadows // Garden

Philip Codd is a filmmaker and composer. As a composer he works with any combination of instruments and electronics, often creating audio works using musique concrète techniques in which short audio samples are edited and manipulated.  

In The Stone Tree Shadows uses audio clips created by scanning Patrick Whitehead’s prints of Bradford mills. These clips are then mangled and modified to create a sonic landscape of differing textures, rhythms and sonorities, with elements of the piece suggesting Bradford’s industrial past. The work will be performed using live electronics and fed through a surround sound diffusion speaker system.  

Performances are in the garden at the back of South Square at 11:30, 13:00 and 14:30 on Saturday 6th and  12:30 and 14:00 on Sunday 7th June.  The piece is 20 minutes in duration. 

To visit Philip’s website click here

More details to be shared soon!

more

Time

June 6, 2026 11:00 am – june 7, 2026 4:00 pm(GMT+01:00)

Location

South Square Centre

july

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  • Launching Friday 5th June, 4pm - 6pm
  • Last date to view, Sunday 5th July
  • Community Room

Come down for the highly awaited Year 10 Art show at Beckfoot Thornton school!

Students from year 10 art classes at Beckfoot Thornton have been working on a variety of different projects this year.

For this show, students have expressed themselves through three different themes; Recyclable, Abstract, and Monument.

With the chance to do anything desired to respond to chosen themes, students have created work in a variety of ways. Please explore our sculptures, paintings and many more.

Please feel free to sign the visitors book to let us know what you think!

","eventStatus":"https://schema.org/EventScheduled"}

06jun(jun 6)10:30 am05jul(jul 5)3:00 pmBeckfoot Thornton Art Year 10 Show ’26Come down for the highly awaited Year 10 Art show at Beckfoot Thornton school!

Event Details

Launching Friday 5th June, 4pm – 6pm Last date to view, Sunday 5th July Community Room

Event Details

  • Launching Friday 5th June, 4pm – 6pm
  • Last date to view, Sunday 5th July
  • Community Room

Come down for the highly awaited Year 10 Art show at Beckfoot Thornton school!

Students from year 10 art classes at Beckfoot Thornton have been working on a variety of different projects this year.

For this show, students have expressed themselves through three different themes; Recyclable, Abstract, and Monument.

With the chance to do anything desired to respond to chosen themes, students have created work in a variety of ways. Please explore our sculptures, paintings and many more.

more

Time

June 6, 2026 10:30 am – july 5, 2026 3:00 pm(GMT+01:00)

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  • Friday 5th June, 6pm - 9pm

Join us for the launch of the South Square Centre Collage Club Exhibition!

South Square Collage Club emerged from an online collage workshop during a socially restricted Covid period in May 2021 for World Collage Day. People  all over the world joined in supported by remote hosts in South Square Centre and Exeter.. The local participants decided to continue in person once that was possible. Four years later there's a lively  evolving group who gather monthly in South Square Centre on a Saturday morning. The participants include people who are new to making art and people who have spent their lives creating. There's usually a theme linked to our interests but following it is entirely optional. There's a big selection of resources and a huge welcome to all.

This exhibition at Plenty of the Square includes a wonderful mix of the work the club have been creating over the past few weeks.

Last dater to view is Sunday 12th July.

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Oplus_32
","eventStatus":"https://schema.org/EventScheduled"}

06jun(jun 6)10:30 am12jul(jul 12)3:00 pmSouth Square’s Collage Club ExhibitionJoin us for the release of the South Square centre Collage Club!

Event Details

Friday 5th June, 6pm – 9pm Join us for the launch of the South Square Centre Collage

Event Details

  • Friday 5th June, 6pm – 9pm

Join us for the launch of the South Square Centre Collage Club Exhibition!

South Square Collage Club emerged from an online collage workshop during a socially restricted Covid period in May 2021 for World Collage Day. People  all over the world joined in supported by remote hosts in South Square Centre and Exeter.. The local participants decided to continue in person once that was possible. Four years later there’s a lively  evolving group who gather monthly in South Square Centre on a Saturday morning. The participants include people who are new to making art and people who have spent their lives creating. There’s usually a theme linked to our interests but following it is entirely optional. There’s a big selection of resources and a huge welcome to all.

This exhibition at Plenty of the Square includes a wonderful mix of the work the club have been creating over the past few weeks.

Last dater to view is Sunday 12th July.

Oplus_32

more

Time

June 6, 2026 10:30 am – july 12, 2026 3:00 pm(GMT+01:00)

{"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "Event", "@id": "event_7129_0", "eventAttendanceMode":"https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode", "name": "Costing the Earth", "url": "https://southsquarecentre.co.uk/events/costing-the-earth", "startDate": "2026-6-5T22:30+0:00", "endDate": "2026-8-30T03:00+0:00", "image":"https://southsquarecentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Conferva-tibia_Photographs-of-British-Algae_Cyanotype-Imperfections-©-Mandy-Barker.jpg", "description":"
  • Saturday 6th June - Sunday 30th August 2026
  • Main Gallery
  • In collaboration with Impressions Gallery

Costing the Earth aims to highlight the negative and damaging environmental effects of fast fashion on our planet and the small actions we can do to make a positive difference. 

Costing the Earth is a group show presenting artwork of artists Mandy Barker, Alice Fox, Hannah Lamb and Atiyya Mirza, amplifying different ways artists are tackling the climate crisis. The four artists work with recycled or sustainably sourced materials to create photographic images, sculpture and textile artworks.

The cornerstone to Costing the Earth is Mandy Barker’s Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections, a homage to the work of pioneering botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799-1871) using a Victorian photographic process. Through this body of work Barker hopes to raise awareness of fast fashion, synthetic clothes, and the harmful effect of microfibres in the oceans.

Mandy collected fragments of disregarded synthetic clothing from 121 beaches, from John o’ Groats to Land’s End, highlighting that no coastline is exempt from plastic pollution. The items found range from jackets to dressing-up outfits, football shirts to underwear, salvaged from beaches, rockpools and directly from the sea. The items are representative of millions of tonnes of clothes manufactured and discarded each year.

Mandy Barker says, “It is my intention that conversation around Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections will lead to action and a shift within the fashion industry, with the aim of achieving an impact that will go on to change the world.”

Alice Fox looks at technical innovation while also revisiting ancient and Indigenous technologies that could shape a more sustainable future. Alice’s artwork explores the idea of creating a safety net for the world, using different materials for net making, from repurposed polyester fabric to hand twisted string from allotment grown plant fibres.

Great Women Chilling, a playful textile piece by Atiyya Mirza, explores womanhood, empowerment, independence and identity, inspired by the women in Mirza’s family. Atiyya uses scrap fabrics she has collected over many years and found materials, exploring ways of working sustainabily when creating artwork.

Fragments of a Dress draws from the precious scraps of clothing associated with the Brontë family, especially Charlotte Brontë, in the collection at the Brontë Parsonage MuseumHannah Lamb invited visitors to the museum to share stories about a significant item of clothing that they treasure, leaving a hand written note about the item and what it means to them. These touching and highly personal responses have been carefully embroidered onto silk organza, overlapping and layering a mesh of memories.

Hannah Lamb says, “Textiles and clothing can hold powerful memories, reminding us of people, places and special moments in our lives. Today, despite living in world of ‘fast-fashion’ and disposable attitudes to clothing, many of us still keep hold of things that help us to remember.”

The four artists have been invited to present existing work that reflects the exhibition’s broader vision of encouraging reuse, repurposing, and recycling.

Costing the Earth is an Impressions Gallery offsite exhibition in partnership with South Square Centre, part of Impression’s Summer of Sustainability.

Curated by Jane Hiley.

Image credit top: Gigartina Sunday, Photographs of British Algae, Cyanotype Imperfections © Mandy Barker

","eventStatus":"https://schema.org/EventScheduled"}

06jun(jun 6)10:30 am30aug(aug 30)3:00 pmCosting the EarthCosting the Earth aims to highlight the negative and damaging environmental effects of fast fashion on our planet.

Event Details

Saturday 6th June – Sunday 30th August 2026 Main Gallery In collaboration with Impressions Gallery

Event Details

  • Saturday 6th June – Sunday 30th August 2026
  • Main Gallery
  • In collaboration with Impressions Gallery

Costing the Earth aims to highlight the negative and damaging environmental effects of fast fashion on our planet and the small actions we can do to make a positive difference. 

Costing the Earth is a group show presenting artwork of artists Mandy Barker, Alice Fox, Hannah Lamb and Atiyya Mirza, amplifying different ways artists are tackling the climate crisis. The four artists work with recycled or sustainably sourced materials to create photographic images, sculpture and textile artworks.

The cornerstone to Costing the Earth is Mandy Barker’s Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections, a homage to the work of pioneering botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799-1871) using a Victorian photographic process. Through this body of work Barker hopes to raise awareness of fast fashion, synthetic clothes, and the harmful effect of microfibres in the oceans.

Mandy collected fragments of disregarded synthetic clothing from 121 beaches, from John o’ Groats to Land’s End, highlighting that no coastline is exempt from plastic pollution. The items found range from jackets to dressing-up outfits, football shirts to underwear, salvaged from beaches, rockpools and directly from the sea. The items are representative of millions of tonnes of clothes manufactured and discarded each year.

Mandy Barker says, “It is my intention that conversation around Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections will lead to action and a shift within the fashion industry, with the aim of achieving an impact that will go on to change the world.”

Alice Fox looks at technical innovation while also revisiting ancient and Indigenous technologies that could shape a more sustainable future. Alice’s artwork explores the idea of creating a safety net for the world, using different materials for net making, from repurposed polyester fabric to hand twisted string from allotment grown plant fibres.

Great Women Chilling, a playful textile piece by Atiyya Mirza, explores womanhood, empowerment, independence and identity, inspired by the women in Mirza’s family. Atiyya uses scrap fabrics she has collected over many years and found materials, exploring ways of working sustainabily when creating artwork.

Fragments of a Dress draws from the precious scraps of clothing associated with the Brontë family, especially Charlotte Brontë, in the collection at the Brontë Parsonage MuseumHannah Lamb invited visitors to the museum to share stories about a significant item of clothing that they treasure, leaving a hand written note about the item and what it means to them. These touching and highly personal responses have been carefully embroidered onto silk organza, overlapping and layering a mesh of memories.

Hannah Lamb says, “Textiles and clothing can hold powerful memories, reminding us of people, places and special moments in our lives. Today, despite living in world of ‘fast-fashion’ and disposable attitudes to clothing, many of us still keep hold of things that help us to remember.”

The four artists have been invited to present existing work that reflects the exhibition’s broader vision of encouraging reuse, repurposing, and recycling.

Costing the Earth is an Impressions Gallery offsite exhibition in partnership with South Square Centre, part of Impression’s Summer of Sustainability.

Curated by Jane Hiley.

Image credit top: Gigartina Sunday, Photographs of British Algae, Cyanotype Imperfections © Mandy Barker

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Time

June 6, 2026 10:30 am – august 30, 2026 3:00 pm(GMT+01:00)

august

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  • Saturday 6th June - Sunday 30th August 2026
  • Main Gallery
  • In collaboration with Impressions Gallery

Costing the Earth aims to highlight the negative and damaging environmental effects of fast fashion on our planet and the small actions we can do to make a positive difference. 

Costing the Earth is a group show presenting artwork of artists Mandy Barker, Alice Fox, Hannah Lamb and Atiyya Mirza, amplifying different ways artists are tackling the climate crisis. The four artists work with recycled or sustainably sourced materials to create photographic images, sculpture and textile artworks.

The cornerstone to Costing the Earth is Mandy Barker’s Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections, a homage to the work of pioneering botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799-1871) using a Victorian photographic process. Through this body of work Barker hopes to raise awareness of fast fashion, synthetic clothes, and the harmful effect of microfibres in the oceans.

Mandy collected fragments of disregarded synthetic clothing from 121 beaches, from John o’ Groats to Land’s End, highlighting that no coastline is exempt from plastic pollution. The items found range from jackets to dressing-up outfits, football shirts to underwear, salvaged from beaches, rockpools and directly from the sea. The items are representative of millions of tonnes of clothes manufactured and discarded each year.

Mandy Barker says, “It is my intention that conversation around Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections will lead to action and a shift within the fashion industry, with the aim of achieving an impact that will go on to change the world.”

Alice Fox looks at technical innovation while also revisiting ancient and Indigenous technologies that could shape a more sustainable future. Alice’s artwork explores the idea of creating a safety net for the world, using different materials for net making, from repurposed polyester fabric to hand twisted string from allotment grown plant fibres.

Great Women Chilling, a playful textile piece by Atiyya Mirza, explores womanhood, empowerment, independence and identity, inspired by the women in Mirza’s family. Atiyya uses scrap fabrics she has collected over many years and found materials, exploring ways of working sustainabily when creating artwork.

Fragments of a Dress draws from the precious scraps of clothing associated with the Brontë family, especially Charlotte Brontë, in the collection at the Brontë Parsonage MuseumHannah Lamb invited visitors to the museum to share stories about a significant item of clothing that they treasure, leaving a hand written note about the item and what it means to them. These touching and highly personal responses have been carefully embroidered onto silk organza, overlapping and layering a mesh of memories.

Hannah Lamb says, “Textiles and clothing can hold powerful memories, reminding us of people, places and special moments in our lives. Today, despite living in world of ‘fast-fashion’ and disposable attitudes to clothing, many of us still keep hold of things that help us to remember.”

The four artists have been invited to present existing work that reflects the exhibition’s broader vision of encouraging reuse, repurposing, and recycling.

Costing the Earth is an Impressions Gallery offsite exhibition in partnership with South Square Centre, part of Impression’s Summer of Sustainability.

Curated by Jane Hiley.

Image credit top: Gigartina Sunday, Photographs of British Algae, Cyanotype Imperfections © Mandy Barker

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06jun(jun 6)10:30 am30aug(aug 30)3:00 pmCosting the EarthCosting the Earth aims to highlight the negative and damaging environmental effects of fast fashion on our planet.

Event Details

Saturday 6th June – Sunday 30th August 2026 Main Gallery In collaboration with Impressions Gallery

Event Details

  • Saturday 6th June – Sunday 30th August 2026
  • Main Gallery
  • In collaboration with Impressions Gallery

Costing the Earth aims to highlight the negative and damaging environmental effects of fast fashion on our planet and the small actions we can do to make a positive difference. 

Costing the Earth is a group show presenting artwork of artists Mandy Barker, Alice Fox, Hannah Lamb and Atiyya Mirza, amplifying different ways artists are tackling the climate crisis. The four artists work with recycled or sustainably sourced materials to create photographic images, sculpture and textile artworks.

The cornerstone to Costing the Earth is Mandy Barker’s Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections, a homage to the work of pioneering botanist and photographer Anna Atkins (1799-1871) using a Victorian photographic process. Through this body of work Barker hopes to raise awareness of fast fashion, synthetic clothes, and the harmful effect of microfibres in the oceans.

Mandy collected fragments of disregarded synthetic clothing from 121 beaches, from John o’ Groats to Land’s End, highlighting that no coastline is exempt from plastic pollution. The items found range from jackets to dressing-up outfits, football shirts to underwear, salvaged from beaches, rockpools and directly from the sea. The items are representative of millions of tonnes of clothes manufactured and discarded each year.

Mandy Barker says, “It is my intention that conversation around Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections will lead to action and a shift within the fashion industry, with the aim of achieving an impact that will go on to change the world.”

Alice Fox looks at technical innovation while also revisiting ancient and Indigenous technologies that could shape a more sustainable future. Alice’s artwork explores the idea of creating a safety net for the world, using different materials for net making, from repurposed polyester fabric to hand twisted string from allotment grown plant fibres.

Great Women Chilling, a playful textile piece by Atiyya Mirza, explores womanhood, empowerment, independence and identity, inspired by the women in Mirza’s family. Atiyya uses scrap fabrics she has collected over many years and found materials, exploring ways of working sustainabily when creating artwork.

Fragments of a Dress draws from the precious scraps of clothing associated with the Brontë family, especially Charlotte Brontë, in the collection at the Brontë Parsonage MuseumHannah Lamb invited visitors to the museum to share stories about a significant item of clothing that they treasure, leaving a hand written note about the item and what it means to them. These touching and highly personal responses have been carefully embroidered onto silk organza, overlapping and layering a mesh of memories.

Hannah Lamb says, “Textiles and clothing can hold powerful memories, reminding us of people, places and special moments in our lives. Today, despite living in world of ‘fast-fashion’ and disposable attitudes to clothing, many of us still keep hold of things that help us to remember.”

The four artists have been invited to present existing work that reflects the exhibition’s broader vision of encouraging reuse, repurposing, and recycling.

Costing the Earth is an Impressions Gallery offsite exhibition in partnership with South Square Centre, part of Impression’s Summer of Sustainability.

Curated by Jane Hiley.

Image credit top: Gigartina Sunday, Photographs of British Algae, Cyanotype Imperfections © Mandy Barker

more

Time

June 6, 2026 10:30 am – august 30, 2026 3:00 pm(GMT+01:00)