Sew Near – Sew Far
Elizabeth Gaskell’s House is delighted to welcome artist Lynn Setterington who is in the process of creating three textile based artworks for the Brontë Parsonage Museum exploring the adopted and real signatures of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte.
Elizabeth Gaskell and Charlotte became friends and correspondents, and Charlotte visited the house on three occasions, famously hiding behind the curtains on one visit to hide from a fellow guest. Following Charlotte’s death in 1855, Elizabeth wrote her biography, The Life of Charlotte Bronte, published in 1857.
Visitors to the house on Wednesday 6 September can observe Lynn at work or assist with some basic sewing.
Sew Near – Sew Far, a collaboration with Brontë Parsonage Museum, will see three large-scale, textile artworks along the Brontë Way celebrating the famous signatures of the Brontë sisters. People have been given the chance to add their own signature in a series of workshops with the artist. The artworks form part of Brontë200, a five-year programme celebrating the bicentenaries of the births of four of the Brontës: Charlotte in 2016, Branwell in 2017, Emily in 2018 and Anne in 2020.
Artist Lynn Setterington said: “Signatures are an important marker of identity and the Brontë sisters famously used pseudonyms at their time of writing to disguise the fact they were women.”
Sew Near – Sew Far goes on display at sites along the Brontë Way from 30 September to 15 October and is part of Meeting Point2, a year-long project led by contemporary art agency Arts&Heritage that sees artists partner with museums in Yorkshire, the North West and the North East to produce new artworks inspired by the museums and their collections.
This event is included in your admission to the house.
11am - 2pm
Workshops
