The Whitworth –
Art Fund New Collecting Award

Call for British South Asian Women Artists working with textiles
This call for expressions of interest is now closed. Thank you.

The Whitworth is seeking to build a small collection of contemporary textile artworks made by women artists of South Asian descent living or working in the North West of England.

This initiative is part of the Art Fund New Collecting Award awarded to Uthra Rajgopal (Assistant Curator, Textiles and Wallpaper) at the Whitworth, the University of Manchester.

Criteria:

Your work must include textiles but it can be in the broadest sense – from single fibres to fabrics to large-scale sculptural works, or using the techniques associated with textiles such as printing, stitching or weaving, or a combination.

You can be at any stage of your career – early to established.

There is no age limit.

Your first language need not be English.

You must have family descendants from Pakistan, India or Bangladesh (but not exclusively).

You must be living or working in the North West of England.

The chosen artworks will be purchased by the Whitworth with the generous support of the Art Fund and become part of the permanent collection at the Whitworth, enhancing our holdings of contemporary textile artworks and giving a much needed contemporary voice to the collection of South Asian textiles, one of the largest in the UK.

The new acquisitions will go on display in 2021 (date to be confirmed) at the Whitworth and there will also be an accompanying programme of events which the artists are welcome to suggest ideas for in a digital format. The artists will also benefit from the network of contacts with cultural and educational establishments across South Asia.

This call for expressions of interest is now closed.
Thank you. 

Updated: December 2020

Image: Raisa Kabir, It must be nice to fall in love… (detail) 2017. Copyright: Raisa Kabir