The William Morris Society in the United States is delighted to host an online event celebrating the exhibition Althea McNish: Colour is Mine, now showing at The Whitworth in Manchester, UK, on tour from the William Morris Gallery in London. Join us for a conversation with exhibition curators Rose Sinclair, Lecturer in Design Education at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Rowan Bain, Principal Curator at the William Morris Gallery. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the dazzling textiles of Althea McNish, who has been hailed as the first internationally renowned Caribbean designer. Born in Trinidad, McNish trained in London in the 1950s and became a leading figure in the textile world, inspiring generations of artists and designers. This virtual event will take place via Zoom on Saturday, January 21st, 2023, at 12:00 noon Eastern Time (5:00 pm GMT). Attendance is free and open to the public. Please register in advance to receive the Zoom information.
About the Guest Speakers
Rowan Bain is Principal Curator of the William Morris Gallery, London. In this role she oversees the Gallery’s collections, some 10,000 objects telling the story of the life and work of Morris and his artistic circle. Rowan oversees an ambitious programme of contemporary and historical exhibitions and curated “Althea McNish: Colour is Mine”; “Kehinde Wiley: The Yellow Wallpaper” and “May Morris: Art & Life.” Rowan was previously an Assistant Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum. She is the author of William Morris’s Flowers (V&A Publishing, 2019) and co-author of May Morris Arts & Crafts Designer (V&A Publishing, 2017).
Rose Sinclair is a Lecturer in Design (Textiles) and Design Education at Goldsmiths, University of London, with a passion for textiles combined with stories that can be told through cloth, especially those often absent from the design discourse. Her PhD research focuses on Black British women and the diaspora and their crafting practices and making networks, and relationships between amateur and professional makers. Rose’s current publications include “Tracing back to trace forwards: What does it mean/take to be a Black textile designer” in Elaine Igoe (ed.) Textile Design Theory in the Making (Bloomsbury, 2021), and “Does Design do Race” in Alison Hardy (ed.), Debates in Design & Technology Education (2nd edn., Routledge, forthcoming Dec. 2022).