Join Dr Matthew Taylor for a free creative workshop, and be inspired by vintage designs from the archive at Heritage Quay.

All welcome 12:30-2pm, come for as long or short as you like but please book in advance: https://t.ly/EsrrR

All materials will be provided.

Heritage Quay’s latest exhibition is a visual feast. Based on an archive of designs for woven cloth, the show uses original documents and contemporary artistic works to explore pattern, creativity, and artistic process.

The exhibition has been curated by Dr Matthew Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Fashion and Textiles, and is based on his longstanding engagement with this particular archive. The Gleneden Post War Design Archive is made up of hundreds of design sheets from the 1950s through to the 1990s. Many of the patterns are bold florals or geometrics, and give a sense of how fashions for domestic interiors come and go.

As well as providing a window into design history, the exhibition shows how new work can be inspired by archival pieces. Dr Taylor’s work involves an approach known as a/r/tography – that is, combining the roles of artist, researcher and teacher. All three roles are evident. The exhibition involves some student work by Liza Smeeton and Rebekah Fuller, who used the Gleneden archive to inspire new work in a course taught by Dr Taylor.

Part of the show looks at the history of Gleneden Textiles Ltd, the company which provided these designs to different manufacturers across the country. And Dr Taylor’s work as an artist underpins everything on display, with sketchbooks, photographs, printed cloth and

even collaboratively-produced wallpaper which gives a new spin on an old design. The exhibition challenges us all to look afresh at the patterns around us, and ask how we might adapt, modify or reimagine them for the world today.

The exhibition is open Mondays to Fridays 8am to 8pm, and Saturdays 9am to 5pm, until 25 May. It is free, and open to members of the public. Find us at the heart of the University of Huddersfield Campus, on the third floor of the Schwann Building.

Heritage Quay’s current exhibition celebrates classical music composed in the UK since 1945. Using the collections of four organisations which have done much to support young and emerging composers, the exhibition explores where and how new work was heard. Find out about performances in venues from concert halls to night clubs, consider public responses to new sounds, and see the influence of technological development on music. With photographs, scores, manuscripts, newspaper cuttings, programmes and more, the exhibition showcases a revolutionary 70 years of musical history.

The exhibition is based on four collections which we care for and make accessible at Heritage Quay, the archive service of the University of Huddersfield. The exhibition is the final piece in a series dedicated to our extensive music holdings programmed for Kirklees Year of Music. Find out more about our extensive music collections.

The exhibition is open Monday to Friday 8am-7pm and Saturday 9am-5pm until 12 January (closed 22 December – 3 January). The exhibition is free and can be found at the heart of the University of Huddersfield campus. For details of how to find us, see our directions page.

We are delighted to announce that due to popularity, we are extending the run of our current exhibition ‘Patrick Stewart: From Mirfield to the Stars’. Using Sir Patrick’s own archive, the exhibition explores his career on stage and screen using letters, photographs, programmes, costume, merchandise and more. The last day of the exhibition is now Monday 30 October.

The exhibition is free, and open Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm, and Saturday 9am to 5pm. Find us on level 3 of the Schwann Building, on the University of Huddersfield campus.

Heritage Quay’s latest exhibition explores the life and work of Derek Bailey (1930-2005), a guitarist who was a major force in the development of Free Improvisation.

Bailey’s remarkable musical journey began in Sheffield, with a young lad entranced by the music he heard on his uncle’s radio, and fascinated by the guitar. After leaving school he began to pick up work as a musician, and by the 1960s was playing for big names including Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfield and Morecambe and Wise. Around 1969 he left behind this successful – though always precarious – career as a commercial musician to concentrate solely on Free Improvisation. Intent on a sort of music which went beyond style and genre, he worked with people all over the world, ran a record label, Incus, and brought very different people together for spontaneous, organic music-making.

Heritage Quay’s latest exhibition tells this story, using photographs, notebooks, letters, programmes, and the plectrums Bailey made himself using dental acrylic. Many of the items on display have never been seen by the public before. They are all part of the Derek Bailey Archive, which is cared for by Heritage Quay.

The exhibition is part of our Kirklees Year of Music series. It is free, and open Monday to Saturday from 14 August to 30 September. Heritage Quay is at the heart of the University of Huddersfield Campus, and there are details of how to find us here: Directions | Heritage Quay

In the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the area around Huddersfield was home to the best handbell teams in the world. These groups, which were mostly male and often pub-based, rehearsed, performed and competed with the same seriousness as brass bands. Their story, however, is much less known.

It is this story, of working-class musical activity, fierce local rivalry, and mass entertainment which is showcased in our latest exhibition. Using the recently deposited archive of the Handbell Ringers of Great Britain, it explores the rich local history of handbell ringing, as well as its vibrant – and global – present. The exhibition is free, and open Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm, and Saturdays 9am to 5pm.

A free afternoon event on Saturday 8th July will include an exhibition tour, a performance by the Clifton Handbell Ringers and a chance to have a go at ringing.

In March 2023, Sovereign Design House (which houses Toast House café) hosted Textiles on Toast, an exhibition of work produced by first- and second-year Textile students at the University of Huddersfield.

Some of the students were inspired by Gleneden Post-War Design Archive which is held at Heritage Quay.

Second year student Liza Smeeton describes their experience of using the archive:

“I’ve never worked from materials in an archive. I’ve normally been given a title or theme and have worked from that.

I initially visited the archive [at Heritage Quay] with lecturer Claire Barber as part of the Introduction to Theoretical and Ethical Studies module and then lecturer Matthew Taylor introduced us to the designs in the Visual Research module where we had much more time to examine and work with and from them.

I was quickly drawn to a very simple design in muted browns, but I’ve worked with this in several ways, simplifying the design, changing the colours, creating stencils and cut paper, working the design in hand and machine embroidery and using the stencil to create prints on fabric which I then stitched into. These samples are what I’ve exhibited in the Toast House.

I focused on archives for my theory written report and visited a textile archive in Sheffield where I live. The research and papers I read for this paper shows there are clear benefits from using archives to help in creating new designs, as long as these are modified and not copied from the original and that the original source is referenced. Having the original Gleneden design as a starting point gave me something to work from, so that I wasn’t starting from scratch, it helped me to produce new work much more quickly and to develop new ideas from that starting point.”

First year student Rebekah Fuller also describes their experience:

“I had never used materials from an archive before in my studies. I had never previously even considered using items from an archive to inspire my artistic process. I first learnt about archives when we visited Heritage Quay as a class as part of the Introduction to Theoretical and Ethical Studies module where we had a session with Assistant Archivist Fran Horner.

When I first saw some of the designs from the Gleneden archive, I was amazed by the intricate, detailed nature of the florals. Slightly overwhelmed, I chose a design with a colour palette I was drawn to and also the curved shape the florals created together. After painting this design, I was really pleased and throughout this year it has been a design I have been drawn back to again and again. Because of this, it was the most well-rounded collection I made this year. I used it especially in my weave rotation, considering ways I could abstract the design. I also managed to explore this painting within CAD creating a repeat pattern.”

You can book an appointment to view items from the Gleneden Post-War Design Archive by filling in our online booking form and quoting the reference number ‘GLN’.

If you are interested in using Gleneden as part of a research, teaching or art project, please email us on archives@hud.ac.uk.

We are delighted to announce our latest exhibition, guest curated by academic, artist and dancer, Hardeep Singh Sahota.

The Bhangra Lexicon explores the roots of this art form in Panjabi folk culture, through to the artists and recordings which have made Bhangra a global sensation. It also looks at Bhangra in Huddersfield, which was home to one of the first Bhangra groups formed in the UK. All this comes out of Hardeep’s research into the history of Bhangra and into its wide repertoire of movement.

Bringing together instruments, photographs, textiles, jewellery, books, recordings and more, the exhibition is a rich celebration of the dance and music of Bhangra.

The exhibition is free, and open 29 April – 10 June 2023, Monday-Friday 8am to 7pm, and Saturdays 9am to 5pm.