In Conversation with Laura Nathan- Memorial Gestures Residency Talk

Memorial Gestures artist Laura Nathan has embarked upon a physical and metaphorical journey of unpicking. As the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, Laura’s work stems from a need to unpick and interrogate her past and its impact today.

Laura first approached the Holocaust Centre North Archive to help her learn from the experiences of other survivors and their families. She also explored “The White Line Here There And Now Oral History Project” held in Heritage Quay, which contained interviews with people who experienced the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. Laura wanted to explore the multicultural experiences of refugees and migrants who were brought together in the North of England through work, carrying the scars of their past.

Her explorations since have revolved around the textile industry in Yorkshire, notably Kagan Textiles Ltd. where Gannex fabric was invented. The Kagan family story is one of the 16 survivor stories central to Through Our Eyes, the permanent exhibition at Holocaust Centre North. Laura’s residency work has centred around the laborious unpicking and reconstructing of a Gannex coat, performed whilst listening to stories of those intertwined through threads of the past.

Join Laura in conversation as she shares her process of unpicking, discovery, remaking, and repairing broken threads. She will reflect how these actions helped her process the experiences of others, whilst gaining insight into her own family’s story.

Indpendent Creative Of The Year Finalist- Manchester Culture Awards 2024

November  2024

It was such an honour to be shortlisted as a finalist for this award!

The category definition was "A person working independently in the creative sector who is inspiring and innovating through their artform and/or delivery of projects in the city"

Congratulations to Omid Asadi who was the very worthy winner of this award, and a big shout out to the other nominees- DJ Paulette and Jenny Harris. 

Hanna Miley Documentary Project        september 2024

Over the past 6 months I have been working alongside a team of film makers, writers, musicians, historians and the most inspiration woman- Hanna Miley who is a Holocaust survivor and now a very dear friend. 

Together we are exploring Hanna's history and memories of her early life in Gemund Germany; her Kindertransport/ refugee narrative;  and her subsequent path of discovery surrounding the fate of her parents. reconciliation 

I have been commissioned to create a series of textiles pieces based surround Hanna's childhood memories.  I've been working with layers of fabric and exploring ways of bringing fabric to life on screen!

It's been a really interesting project, pushing me way out of my comfort zone and I'm learning a lot!  

The documentary is due for release in early 2025 and you can read more about it here 

https://hannamiley.com/documentary/

AIR Gallery Open 2024

Exhibiting Artists: It launches on Thurs 15th August 6-9pm

• At Rogue Artist Studios,4 Barrass St, Openshaw,

Manchester M11 2LS

Exhibiting Artists:

Aimee Spilsted, Alex Aiton, Amelia Frances Wood, ANDI, Archie Leigh-Jones, Becky Moon, Bethan Hamilton, Bill Psarras, Chris Lewtas, Carrai MacCormac, Craig fisher, Daniel H Bell, Emma Lloyd, Enxi Liu, Gareth Cairns, Hang Zhang, Helen Davies, Jay Ottewell, Julie Cassels, Justine Lesage, Kate Street, Katy Mason, Kelan Andrews, Laura Nathan, Lucy Ridges, Lucy Waters, Lois Hopwood, Luke Skiffington, Lula Braimbridge, Marc Remshaw, Marie Jones, Nicola Bolton, Nigel Grimmer, Nisaa Saeed Raja, Rachel Ackroyd, Ramon Omolaja Adeyemi, Ruby Tingle, Sam Owen Hull, Sara Hindhaugh, Simon Leahy-Clark, Steve Sutton, Tom Motley and Vincent James

A Exhibition sponsored by Castlefield Gallery, Saul Hay Gallery and Jacksons Art Supplies.

Winning " Highly Commended" at the Comme Ca Art x AWOL Exhibition

Friday 17th May saw the opening night of the Comme Ca Art x AWOL exhibition. Winning the highly commended award for my piece " Processing Documents 1939-64" meant so much! At the moment, exploring my history surrounding the Holocaust feels anxiety provoking so winning this award has helped me regain a little more confidence in my work!

Huge congratulations to winning artist Emma Llloyd

The exhibition runs until 22nd June- 

Comme Ca Art Gallery, 5th floor, Hope Mill, 113 Pollard Street, Manchester,  M4 7JA

Curating Memories, Materials and Visual Histories about The Holocaust"

Holocaust Centre North- 1st March 2024

Last week I took part in a conference hosted by The Holocaust Centre North. It brought together academics, researchers and artists who explore the Holocaust and other genocides within their practice. I spoke about my Arts Council  DYCP project " Engaging With Inherited Archives" and shared my journey of learning about my history through archival documents and photographs. I also focused on intergenerational trauma and how traumatic histories shape who we are.

Exploring our inherited Objects- Jewish Culture Club @ Manchester Jewish Museum

March 2024

This month I joined Manchester Jewish Museum's  Jewish Culture Club where I shared personal objects, including my grandmother’s needle case brought with her when she came to England in 1939 on the Kindertransport, as well as her own artworks, and explore how her heritage has informed her practice.

Participants were in invited to bring along their own objects that they has inherited and still use in their lives today.  These objects were used to spark conversation and consider how our own identities are shaped by our heritage.

"Engaging With Inherited Archives"- Imperial War Museum Blog Post 

At the beggining of the year I wrote a blog post for the Imperial War Museum. This post focused on how I have been using family archives surrounding my grandparents Holocaust narratives within my Arts Council DYCP project.

You can read my blog post here 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/blog/partnerships/2024/01/engaging-with-inherited-archives

Artist Residency @ Manchester Jewish Museum

January- March 2024

I was recently awarded an artist development grant (DYCP) from the Arts Council England. This grant has enabled me  to spend some time exploring family archives linked to my grandparents ‘experiences during the Holocaust. It has also supported me to learn new printing techniques to enable her to print a selection of these archival documents and photographs onto fabric.

I'm now at the exciting stage in my project where i'm experimenting with the prints she created. Over the next two months i'll l be spending some time at Manchester Jewish Museum, sitting in the Ladies Gallery embroidering into my  pieces.

Please check out the Museum's Website to see the dates I'll be based there.

Liquid Liqht Photography Workshop-

Martin Livesey from Venture Arts has been teaching me all there is to know about Liquid Light photography. This fascinating technique has enabled me to transfer photographs onto fabric in a photography darkroom. I've transferred a series of photographs belonging to my grandma which date back to her life in Germany before she came to England on the Kindertransport. 

Thank you to Arts Council England for funding this work through the DYCP project. 

A Small Space: An Exhibition Of Small Works 

30th November- January 2024

SQFT Gallery, 95 Bell Street, London, NW1 6TL.

It's best to call or email ahead to view. Monday-Friday 10-6pm or email : studio@squarefeetarchitects.co.uk or call (020) 7431 4500

A Small Space is our title for a continued exhibition concept where we find places with spaces that are unconventional or unused, pushing the boundaries of the conventional white cube gallery space. The ethos os small, the art and space, thus expanding the potential for exhibiting and selling our work. 

Screen Printing: Archival Imagery- at Hot Bed Press

October 2023

I've just spent some time at Hot Bed Press Printing Studio developing skills in screen printing archival images and text surrounding my grandparents Holocaust narratives. Under the excellent guidance of Textiles Artist Kiran Lee I learnt the different steps involved in screen printing onto fabric. I also learnt discharge ( bleach) and devore ( burning away a layer of woven fabric) 

It was a great learning opportunity and I'm thankful to Arts Council England for funding this as part of my DYCP project.

ArtSpeak: conversations between art and language

4th- 20th October

Norman Rea Gallery, York University

I'm exhibiting three pieces of work in this very interesting exhibition.  I love that this is a University student led gallery and when approached to exhibit by Iris Beck who is the events officer at Norman Rae i couldn't say no! Ive been really impressed by the professionalism of those involved in curating this show.

‘ArtSpeak: Conversations Between Art and Language.’ Just like art, language is in the very fabric of humanity and has been used since the evolution of our species. It has developed from signs for survival to the establishment of thousands of unique languages, which allow people to express themselves both individually and collectively.

ArtSpeak brings together artists who explore language through a variety of themes, materials, and techniques, demonstrating the versatility of language and its wider purpose in art.Ultimately, this exhibition seeks to raise questions about the importance of who uses language, who it addresses, how it is being used, and to what ends.

AIR Open 2023

18th August- 30th September       P.V: 17th August 6-9pm

The AIR Open 2023 is back for it's 6th year with a fantastic showcase of the best contemporary art in the here and now. 

This open themed showcase presents the best of contemporary art today across the fields of video, fine art, drawing, sculpture, textile and mixed media. All works were selected by a judging panel via an open call submission process. ​

​Don't forget to vote for your favourite works on show!

​Kindly supported by Castlefield Gallery, Saul Hay Gallery and Jacksons Art Supplies.​

​Featuring:

Adam Garratt, Aimee Spilsted, Alana Lake, The Yaffingale, Alyssa Whelan, Anna FC Smith, Anna Tong,Daniel Freaker, Darya, Ella Matthews, Emily Ingram, Emily Simpson, Emma Worth, Henrietta MacPhee, Iain Andrews, Isaac Jordan, Jade Gilbert, Joseph Goddard, Jude Wainwright, Laura Nathan, Lauren Prosser, Leah Kelly, Lily Burrill ,Mark Mcleish, Mike Chavez-Dawson, Peter Hanmer, Sadie Hennessy, Sam Mendes, Sarah Jennings, Sara Hindhaugh, Simon Woolham, Thomas Griffiths, Victoria Holland, Xanthe Tilzey, Yejin Oh

Small Space is heading to Deansgate, Manchester.

We’re really excited to be given the space by Dez Rez Projects where all 18 of us will be exhibiting in the shopfront window on one of Manchester’s busiest roads!

18th July - 31st Aug

285 Deansgate, Manchester,M3 4EW

 Dez Rez Projects was created in 2018 by Nan Collantine. An artist-led platform initiated to showcase different artists in temporary spaces in the absence of opportunities for artists to exhibit. It was commissioned by GNW in 2021 to programme exhibitions and to showcase artists in the window space at 285 Deansgate Manchester.

Nan is also the founder and owner of Mura Ma Art Space, an artist-led independent gallery and art space in Marple, Stockport.

A Small Space is our title for a continued exhibition concept where we find places with spaces that are unconventional or unused, pushing the boundaries of the conventional white cube gallery space. The ethos is small, the art and the space, thus expanding the potential for exhibiting and selling our work.

Flyer/ logo design by @peterdavis_art

 Exhibiting Artists:

Rachael Addis, Heather Alderson, Margaret Cahill, Julie Cassels, Nan Collantine, Peter Davis, Sarah Feinmann, Ruth Fildes, Laura Nathan, Sophie Nixon, Jen Orpin, Sam Owen Hull, Laura Pedley, Sandra Robinson, Michelle Taube, Stefanie Trow, Jude Wainwright, Hannah Wooll

Arts Council Funding News!

I’ve been awarded the Develop Your Creative Practice ( DYCP) grant from Arts Council England! From September-March, this funding will help me develop my work using family archives to process painful histories and to explore intergenerational trauma.

I’ll be learning a variety of new printing techniques so I can transfer archival documents and photographs onto fabric on a more ambitious scale. These will include screen printing, liquid light photography, and largescale digital print. I’ll be learning from printmaking and photography experts including Hot Bed Press, MMU textiles digital printing facility and at Venture Arts.

I’ll also take part in professional development opportunities to help push my own work and the work I do with others using art to explore their own experiences. I’ll receive mentoring from internationally renowned socially engaged textiles artist Dr Lynn Setterington; I’ll spend time at Manchester Jewish Museum, I’ll become a member of the Castlefield Gallery Associates and I’ll visit the Holocaust Centre North in Huddersfield. I’ll also connect with author Dr Amy Williams who is researching the history and memory of the Kindertransport.

With huge thanks to The Lowry’s Zoe Watson for her letter of support, Dr Lynn Setterington and Steph Graham for their pearls of wisdom and to Venture Arts who in the past year have supported me in taking the leap to develop my own creative practice alongside my role as a facilitator.

And a huge thank you to Arts Council England for this incredible opportunity!

A Temporary exhibition of textiles, installation and sound exploring family history surrounding the holocaust 

Artists

Sarah Lee and Laura Nathan

Friday, 7 April - Tuesday, 9 May 2023
Private view: 16 April, 2PM

This work was made during NARRATIVES, a collaborative six-month residency by twelve artists brought together by Venture Arts, The Lowry and Castlefield Gallery, with support from associates Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre and Education Trust, Explorers Project and Manchester Jewish Museum. Two of the artists; Laura Nathan and Sarah Lee worked at Manchester Jewish Museum during their residency period, exploring their family stories through art.

Through conversations, Laura Nathan and Sarah Lee discovered their shared family history of the Holocaust and Jewish heritage. Both had grandparents who were makers and experienced persecution due to their beliefs. Through their explorations, Laura and Sarah attempted to understand their histories and reconcile the traumas of those who came before them.

Sarah created intimate hand embroidered pieces reinterpreting her grandfather’s experiences and the woodcarvings which he made to help process what he had been through. Sarah also gained inspiration through the repetition within the museum’s stained-glass windows and architecture. 

Laura processed an overwhelming collection of family documents and testimonies through the creation of a textiles and sound-based installation.

Fibre Exhibition At Air Gallery, Altrincham 

17 March - 22 April 2023

P.V: 16 March 6-10pm

​Wed-Fri 11-5 Sat 12-5

About

Textile making traditions spans global cultures as one of the earliest human technologies. It has been a staple in industry, fashion, craft and decorative arts throughout the ages but it particularly made a resurgence in the 1960s back into the contemporary art world. Since then Fibre and textile arts have been developing new forms and language -becoming more conceptual and cross-disciplinary, even into this digital age.

​This group exhibition explores how contemporary artists are embracing new technological advances whilst retaining elements of traditional craft to explores themes of personal experience, collective memory, political and ecological messages and tongue in cheek approaches to textiles.

Artist List

Adele Jordan, Alena Ruth Donely, Allison Baker, Alison Berry, Angela Tait, Beatrice Gillies, Dot Jackson, Elaine Fisher, Ellie Laycock, Francesco Felletti, Jacqui Barrowcliffe, Jazz Prisciandaro-Wood, Jenny Pope, Katie McGuire, Laura Nathan, Lily Martina Lee & Carrie Quinney, Lindsy Halleckson, Patrick Stratton, Maggie Williams, Marie Jones, Naomi Walker, Nora Lardon, Rachel Johnston, Rachel Rose, Richard Malone, Sarah Lee, Sophy King, Tamasine Seibold, Tomas Cobbett, Tanvi Ranjan, Vivian Ge

Laura Nathan features in the exhibition Venture Arts: NARRATIVES

Exhibition Dates: 14 January – 26 February 2023

Venue: The Lowry, Pier 8, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ

An exhibition exploring personal histories, cultural heritage and collaboration.

ARTISTS

Omid Asadi, Jennie Franklin, Parham Ghalamdar, Jackie Haynes, Sarah Lee, Horace Lindezey, Millie Loveday, Deborah Makinde, Laura Nathan, Dominic Pillai, Alice Merida Richards, and Leslie Thompson.

NARRATIVES is a vibrant and multifaceted exhibition by twelve artists involved in a recent six month residency, brought together by Venture Arts, The Lowry and Castlefield Gallery. Through a diverse collection of artworks spanning drawing, film, performance, sound and installation, the artists collectively explore personal histories, cultural heritage and shared connections.

NARRATIVES is the third cycle of Venture Arts’ pioneering Conversations Series, a programme of artistic projects and residencies established in 2016, aimed at creating new work in a shared exchange of art and ideas. This programme brings together a range of artists, with and without learning disabilities, for reciprocal learning, and to develop collaborative and creative exchanges. Through this, we aim to open up conversations and new dialogues about the role of the artist in contemporary society.

An exhibition and creative reflection session led by textiles artist Laura Nathan exploring her grandparent’s Holocaust narratives using documents, photographs, and oral histories. 

Manchester Jewish Museum, 27th January 2023, part of The Programme of Events for " We Remember Them In Verbs" marking Holocaust Memorial Day.

Laura’s work interweaves history, memory and document, drawing on the photographs and objects connected to her grandparents through beautiful and poignant tapestries, embroideries and installations.

Laura has been working with the museum’s Creative Activist group (age 16 – 30), who have been exploring textiles as a means to tell lesser-known stories of the Holocaust and Second World War from Manchester Jewish Museum’s collections. These pieces attempt to weave the individual’s rich lives, whilst recognising the gaps and absences in individuals’ stories in historic records. Visitors will be invited by both Laura and the Creative Activists to contribute to a larger textile piece with their own histories and reflections on the exhibition.

Details taken from: www.manchesterjewishmuseum.com

Trooping The Corgis, Altrincham

Date 1- 29th June 2022 Venue: Altrincham Town Centre

As part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations, Altrincham BID partnered Inch Arts to produce Altrincham’s largest town-wide art event,‘Trooping the Corgis’.

Fifty life-sized corgi sculptures, designed and decorated by artists, are being displayed from 1st to the 29th June in the windows and foyers of shops and businesses around the town making the exhibition accessible to everyone. Laura's Coronation Corgi is being displayed in Decor Furniture Showroom.

Trooping the Corgis map and guides will be available in the Summer issue of Altrincham Today and from pick up points in the town including Inch Arts, The Travel Shop at the Interchange, The Unicorn Pub and The Everyman Cinema.

If one of the Corgis captures your heart come along to the Auction Event to have your chance to bid for your favourite Corgi. The Auction will take place on Thursday 30th June at The Bowdon Rooms and will be hosted by Darren Proctor.