Picking Up the Thread: Celebrating 20 Years of the British Tapestry Group

This winter, the British Tapestry Group marks a remarkable milestone with Picking up the Thread: The Past, Present and Future of Tapestry, a major touring exhibition celebrating two decades of creative exchange, technical excellence and woven storytelling. Juried by leading weavers Joan Baxter, Fiona Hutchison and Caron Penney, the exhibition brings together more than 90 works by 69 artists from across the UK and beyond—proof that tapestry, one of our oldest textile forms, continues to reinvent itself for contemporary eyes.

"Amour Aspect" by Jennie Moncur. Hand woven tapestry, 1330 x 890mm. Woven on a wool warp - with wool, linen and silk coloured weft threads.

At its heart, the exhibition reflects what the BTG set out to champion twenty years ago: the slow, meticulous art of hand-woven tapestry. Yarn passed horizontally over and under vertical warps may appear simple, but the process becomes astonishingly complex when blending colours, forming shapes or building depth. Every thread is placed with intention in an ethos shared by all artists featured in this anniversary show...

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Image Credits:

Lead: "Collapsing Perspective" by Alistair Duncan, 165 x 152cm.

All further images as credited in photo captions.