Mending Workshop with Celia Pym

Join artist-maker Celia Pym for a mending workshop that will explore textile repair at Hauser & Wirth London, in conjunction with the exhibition ‘Connect. Reveal. Conceal.’

Considering the tenderness and care involved with mending textiles, the aim of the workshop is to practice mending techniques on knitted garments. Pym will discuss her practice and introduce a series of techniques in woven and fake ‘knitted’ darning for attendees to learn and explore throughout the session. There will also be an opportunity to work on repairing your own pre-loved garments.

This event is free to attend, however advance booking is essential. If you are able, we encourage you to donate to our 2023 – 2024 charity partner.

Darning materials will be provided, but please bring along any damaged items that you would like to discuss repairing. No previous darning, knitting, needle based experience is necessary. Refreshments will be provided throughout the workshop.

About Celia Pym
Celia Pym has been mending since 2007,  exploring damage and repair, working with garments that belong to individuals as well as items in museum archives, revealing her extensive experience with the spectrum and stories of damage. For Pym, the process of repairing a treasured garment is a form of nurturing. Time and memory are embodied in a person’s clothing and Pym’s visible acts of care and mending preserve and memorialize lives and relationships.

Her work has been exhibited in ‘Gorgeous Nothings,’ Bartha Contemporary, London, UK (2022); ‘Eternally Yours,’ Somerset House, London, UK (2022); ‘Say Less,’ Herald Street, London, UK (2022); ‘Radical Acts: Harewood Biennial’, Leeds, UK (2022); ‘Keep Being Amazing,’ Firstsite, Colchester, Essex, UK (2022); and ‘On Happiness: Joy + Tranquility,’ Wellcome Collection, London, UK (2021). In 2017, Pym was shortlisted for the Woman’s Hour Craft Prize and the inaugural Loewe Craft Prize. She is an Associate Lecturer in Textiles at the Royal College of Art and published her first book, ‘On Mending: Stories of Damage and Repair’ in 2023.

About ‘Connect. Reveal. Conceal’
Featuring Amy Revier, Celia Pym and Donna Lynch (Studio Ashay)

Make Hauser & Wirth’s summer exhibition in London, ‘Connect. Reveal. Conceal,’ presents distinct explorations in material practice and thinking of three artists. Through an expanded study of textiles, each communicates a culturally familiar visual language, moving fluidly between the everyday and the imagined, suggestion and intent, sense and memory of touch. The meeting of the maker’s hand with the instinctive and skilled application of process and technique, elicits works imbued with meaning and metaphor. The exhibitions is on view at Hauser & Wirth London from Thursday 17 August through Saturday 16 September 2023.

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Please be advised that photographs will be taken at this event for use on the Hauser & Wirth website, social media and in other marketing materials.