Earlier this year I was invited by Leith design agency in Edinburgh to work on co-creating a global symbol for meningitis with them and the meningitis community, including Meningitis Research Foundation, the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO), Sanofi and three para-athletes affected by the disease: Ellie Challis (Great Britain), Théo Curin (France) and Davide Morana (Italy).

The idea was to create a flag design to be the first ever global symbol created for and by the meningitis community to raise awareness of this serious disease.

Over the course of four months I worked intensely researching, designing, collaborating, sharing, presenting and tweaking designs with an incredible team of people to make this flag design you see here today. A design that I feel so proud to have been part of.

Meningitis is a potentially devastating disease that can strike at any time. Affecting more than 2.5 million people globally each year, one in ten will die of the disease with 50% of these deaths occurring amongst children aged five and under. Despite significant progress made over the last 20 years, meningitis is still the world’s 6th largest infectious disease killer.

Knowing how potentially devastating this disease can be through a family member contracting the disease at a very young age, it felt hugely important to me to not only accept Leith's invitation to work with them, but to make sure I did the meningitis community justice with what we created.

After an incredible co-creation process with athletes, MRF, CoMO and Sanofi, we arrived at a final design that is simple, bold and vibrant.

CLIENT: Leith / Sanofi  

CO-CREATED WITH: The Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF), The Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO) & three para-athletes affected by the disease: Ellie Challis (Great Britain), Théo Curin (France) and Davide Morana (Italy).

YEAR: 2023

FLAG MATERIAL: 100% silk crepe de chine

COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: Scotland (The Centre for Advanced Textiles at Glasgow School of Art)

HERO FILM directed by: Juriaan Booij, RSA films 

HUGE THANKS to: Ellie, Théo, Davide, Brian, Nikki, Marion, Joe, Camilla, Kat, Grant, Thea and all at Leith, Elaine, Sam and all at MRF, Barbara, Gwen, Alex and everyone at Sanofi, Alan, Laura & Vicki at CAT, Juriaan, Jamie and everyone that worked on the films - this whole project was an amazing team effort and collaboration of many minds.

The Sculpture House Dye Garden is a project I initiated with the help and support of Sculpture House artist Laura Aldridge, Sculpture House and anthropologist/designer Charlotte Linton. 

Based in Ferguslie Park, Paisley the Sculpture House Dye Garden aims to not only support and enrich my own creative practice as a textile designer by looking at more sustainable ways of making work but also that of Sculpture House and the wider community.

We are currently in our pilot year of the Dye Garden project and have been fortunate to receive funding from both the Renfrewshire Community Climate Fund and Creative Scotland to enable us with practical requirements to establish the garden itself such as building and filling raised beds, as well as funding towards a programme of educational workshops and events. This enables us to offer the following three outreach programmes from the garden: 

1. The FERGUSLIE DYE GARDENERS

This is a free, fortnightly drop-in workshop for Ferguslie residents where we will follow the growing cycle of the plants from seed to flower to harvest. Then we aim to turn the harvested plants into our own textiles over the winter months. 

2. The PRIMARY SCHOOLS PROJECT

This is a project that began in May and runs until October with the P4/5s from the two local primary schools - St.Fergus & Glencoats. The aim is to educate and inspire the pupils about where colour comes from, how we can create colour from plants and sustainability in textiles through growing their own dye plants at Sculpture House to work with.

3. The DYE GARDEN SOCIALS

A free monthly events programme that runs from May to October 2023 curated by myself and Charlotte Linton. Every month we invite a different artist/designer/practitioner to deliver either a practical workshop or talk for the public exploring the ideas around natural dyes, sustainability in textiles and

The Socials so far have been:

May - Bawn & Rejean in conversation

June - Elisabeth Viguie Culshaw: Botanical Printing on Paper

July - Teresinha Roberts: an Allotment to Dye for talk

August - Woollenflower : A Local Colour workshop

To find out more or to book any forthcoming events please head to the Sculpture House page here.

-------------------

COLLABORATORS: Sculpture House (Laura Aldridge), Charlotte Linton

YEAR: 2023 and ongoing

FUNDERS (pilot year 2023): Renfrewshire Community Climate Fund, Creative Scotland

PHOTOGRAPHY: Caro Weiss

Human Threads is the culmination of over 20 years of work by Artlink and the Cherry Road Learning Centre in Bonnyrigg, Midlothian. Artlink’s primary mission within this partnership has been  to explore ways of involving people with PMLD (profound and multiple learning disabilities) in the creative process – through listening, learning and working slowly with those who care as well as those who are cared for.  In doing so, we have built a deep respect for the dignity and lived experience of people who are so often excluded. 

It might seem so simple—a gentle brush on a face, a ball jiggling in a hand — are all incredibly powerful moments of communication. We create a new language together through trial and error over months and years of working – Laura Spring, artist

Human Threads is the first exhibition of its kind,  based on the understanding that art is a language shared, a generous site of intersectionality and humanity. The artworks encourage us to spend time together, to find comfort and enjoyment in that experience. From a silk sail swaying in an artificial breeze to a sapphire blue ramp translating audio into a felt sound;  bubbles flowing from a tower emitting intermittent bursts of light and smoke; rotating discs projecting brightly coloured patterns, and inner worlds in which hand carved figures dance in the light – each installation within this gentle fairground offers an ever-changing and immersive encounter. The exhibition will also serve as a location for a programme of live events, each designed to exaggerate a sensory aspect of the artwork or add an element of the unexpected.

All of the works have been informed by the detail within the interests and preferences of individuals with PMLD, working in this way has taught us  that it is the space we create for people to be together that makes the art work. Post-pandemic, there is much we have learned from placing greater value on working together, from supporting each other, from understanding just how connected we all are.     

In the end it’s not about what you are or even who you are. It’s about what we are together. That’s what’s important. The fact that we all need each other, that we need positive relationships, and it’s this that makes us human – Liz Davidson, Cherry Road

This exhibition is dedicated to the people who didn’t make it through the pandemic, to the people who couldn’t leave their homes, who lost all their supports. And to the carers who struggled to cope. 

Text by Alison Stirling.

Artworks by Matthew Ronay, Laura Aldridge & Lauren Gault, Adam Putnam, Wendy Jacob, Laura Spring & Claire Barclay

To find out more about Artlink and the Human Threads Exhibition, please click here.

-------------------

EXHIBITION: Human Threads at Tramway, Glasgow

COLLABORATOR: Claire Barclay

YEAR: 2022

MATERIALS: 100% silk, fans, metal hoops

CURATORS: Alison Stirling and Nicola White

PHOTOGRAPHY: Artlink