Maker Project - Thinking through practice


Current Events


Call for exhibition opportunities

Despite the COVID19 pandemic bringing the touring exhibition  to an abrupt halt since March 2020, we are still actively seeking future exhibition opportunities nationwide.

If you are a gallery, museum or events organiser and looking for touring exhibitions then please get in touch.


Past Events


Running time: 31 minutes (approx.)


Commons - the rhythm of a walk

An exhibition of woven and stitched textiles by 

Ali Holloway

June 9th - 26th 2021

Contemporary Applied Arts

6 Paddington St

London

W1U 5QG

Opening hours: Wed - Fri, 11am - 5pm

Saturday 11am - 4pm

Over the past year, weaver Ali Holloway has been exploring the eight remaining pieces of common land in Hackney andhas made a series of textile pieces as a response to these walks. 

Her starting point was a collection of sound recordingsshe made of her walks. From the sound waves she derived pattern and rhythm which she wove into the cloth, so placing these journeys in the very structure of the fabric.




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This exhibition interprets both the sound recordings of her walks and also celebrates the topology of the shapes and boundaries of each of the common spaces. 

Larger pieces are made with tactile and textured yarns, paper, horsehair and with 3D protrusions woven in red. This red is threaded through these pieces, woven and stitched taking the yarn in a journey through the cloth. 

It is the colour of life and death and used as protection on journeys.

She traced the boundaries of the land with her feet investigating shapes that have remained constant through time and transcribed these into small delicate silk, stainless steel and wool pieces. 

These commons are remnants of a medieval world where people were deeply connected to the land, never built on and there for all to share.

In the 1860s the borough purchased the Hackney commons to protect them from enclosure, preserving these green spaces for the growing urban population.

At a time when the environment is ever more fragile and the restriction of access to open spaces has been highlighted by the pandemic, common land is back on the agenda. 

Privatisation of public space is still an issue. Land needed for leisure, food production, housing, for a common land that nurtures identity and a sense of belonging. 

The continuing existence of the commons is a reminder of our collective past, links to a lost world and an elemental relationship to the land.

This collection of textile pieces is a celebration of the land under all of our feet, fought for and preserved by the people of Hackney.


March, 2020

Marketplace Studios

The Maker Project will be on exhibit at the Marketplace Studios, Stockport throughout the month of March with an opportunity to see each maker’s signature piece along with accompanying sketchbook journals. This exhibition will also provide the first opportunity to view each maker interview recorded throughout the summer in 2019.

The work will be on show from 2nd - 23rd March. Please get in touch for more details or to request information about hosting the exhibition collection at your gallery, museum or upcoming event.


Marketplace Studios

18-19 Marketplace, Stockport. SK1 1EU


October, 2019

Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair - Manchester

Now in its 12th year, the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair is the North’s largest and most established selling event for contemporary craft and premiered the launch of the Maker Project collection.

Instagram: @GNCCF @great_northern_events

Many thanks to Great Northern Events for supporting the Maker Project - Thinking through practice and hosting the launch of the final collection.


Please check this page for news of forthcoming events and opportunities.

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