New textile exhibition offers contemporary response to Victoriana

The Great Exhibition runs from 26 January to 6 February 2008 at the Patriothall Gallery @ WASPS Studios, 1D, Patriothall, Off Hamilton Place, Stockbridge, Edinburgh EH3 5AY (0131) 226 7126 www.patriothallgallery.co.uk

Open: Tuesday to Friday 12noon to 2pm and 4 to 7pm and Saturday to Sunday 11am to 6pm Admission Free

‘The Great Exhibition 2008’, a new exhibition exploring Victoriana from contemporary viewpoints by Frayed Edges, a group of ten textile artists from Edinburgh, opens at the Patriothall Gallery in Edinburgh on 26 January 2008.

Working with Jeanette Sendler as guest artist and curator, Frayed Edges have investigated a wide range of themes and ideas related to the Victorian era using felt and other textile techniques.

Each artist has followed her personal interest, resulting in pieces as diverse as ‘Murderous millinery’, a blackly surreal look at the macabre craze for trimming ladies hats with whole stuffed birds; ’Sun print garden’, a celebration of the work of pioneering botanical photographer Anna Atkins; ‘Forget me not’, which looks at the ritual and ceremonies surrounding death; ‘Fabric of Time’, an investigation into what can be achieved in a unit of time; and ‘A forest of fans’ which considers the impact of Victorian inventions and technological developments on our planet.