Langholm Made artist Emma Dove has assembled a programme of short films, spanning 1945 to the present day, which observe and celebrate the roles played by women across the weaving and textile industries in the UK and worldwide - from mill workers to garment makers, ‘waulkers’ to home menders, hand weavers and textile recyclers.
‘infinite hands’ brings together films from the British Film Institute’s ‘Textiles on Film’ collection, paired with contemporary films from the UK, Myanmar and India. Together they explore themes of labour, industry and mechanisation, camaraderie and teamwork, shifting attitudes, gendered roles and worker’s rights, material culture, fast fashion, recycling, industrial decline and overseas labour.
Further information about the film programme available here
↓ Click the tabs on the right to read a description of each individual film below ↓
‘Knitting the Intangible Voices’ is a drawing-based animation by Natsumi Sakamoto which explores work songs in female labour, focusing on the histories of the textile industries and domestic work in Scotland and Japan.
As part of a wider project of the same name, Sakamoto studied the Scottish textile industry and the Japanese silk industry from the late eighteen-century to 1930s, focusing on the work songs, poetry and textile work of female workers, and examining the relationship between the body and mechanisation of labour.
Highlighting the interrelation of the textile industry and women’s social position at that time, her research reflects on how inequality and gender discrimination within the workplace led women to become part of social movements, including the early feminist movement in both Scotland and Japan. Sakamoto’s focus on these places is not only due to her personal connection to them but also because of their invisibility within history.
The film animates a series of drawings inspired by archival images of the women of Crofthead Mills, Nielston, on strike, as well as the gestures of labour and the histories of these women. It also captures Sakamoto’s own experience of making textile herself.
Sakamoto has collected work songs from archival collections in Scotland and Japan, and in doing so has incorporated parts of these lyrics, rhythms and melodies to compose a “new work song” supported by musician Sarah McWhinney. Taking inspiration from Òrain Luaidh, ‘waulking songs’, Sakamoto explores the work song as a forgotten memory and tradition. ‘Waulking’ is a practice traditionally performed by women in the Highlands of Scotland, where most of the process of cloth-making was through manual labour in the early twentieth century as water mills were usually not available. Simple, beat-driven songs were used to accompany their labour, songs only women were allowed to sing.
The full ‘Knitting the Intangible Voices’ project is on exhibition at 16 Nicholson Street, Glasgow, until Sunday 4 July. Details on how to visit here
To view the publication that accompanies the full exhibition, click here
Curator: Isabella Shields with Aga Młyńczak
Installation Technician: Dylan Esposito
Technical Assistance: Aga Młyńczak
Publication Graphic Design: Ella McLean
Web Design: Rush Johnstone
Photography: Bart Urbanski
Special thanks to Frances Dunlop (Sgioba Luaidh Inbhirchluaidh), Lindsay Finnie, Caroline Gausden (Glasgow Women’s Library), Morag Henriksen, Sheila MacKay, Catherine MacPhee (Skye and Lochalsh Archive Centre)
Exhibition supported by Glasgow Women’s Library, Pola Art Foundation, Glasgow City Council, and Merchant City Print
Image Credit: Natsumi Sakamoto
- Year2021
- Runtime2'30
- CountryUnited Kingdom
- RatingPG
- NoteThemes: hands, repetition, movement, the body, machinery, mechanisation, spindles, thread, women’s rights, worker’s rights, feminism, protest
- DirectorNatsumi Sakamoto
Langholm Made artist Emma Dove has assembled a programme of short films, spanning 1945 to the present day, which observe and celebrate the roles played by women across the weaving and textile industries in the UK and worldwide - from mill workers to garment makers, ‘waulkers’ to home menders, hand weavers and textile recyclers.
‘infinite hands’ brings together films from the British Film Institute’s ‘Textiles on Film’ collection, paired with contemporary films from the UK, Myanmar and India. Together they explore themes of labour, industry and mechanisation, camaraderie and teamwork, shifting attitudes, gendered roles and worker’s rights, material culture, fast fashion, recycling, industrial decline and overseas labour.
Further information about the film programme available here
↓ Click the tabs on the right to read a description of each individual film below ↓
‘Knitting the Intangible Voices’ is a drawing-based animation by Natsumi Sakamoto which explores work songs in female labour, focusing on the histories of the textile industries and domestic work in Scotland and Japan.
As part of a wider project of the same name, Sakamoto studied the Scottish textile industry and the Japanese silk industry from the late eighteen-century to 1930s, focusing on the work songs, poetry and textile work of female workers, and examining the relationship between the body and mechanisation of labour.
Highlighting the interrelation of the textile industry and women’s social position at that time, her research reflects on how inequality and gender discrimination within the workplace led women to become part of social movements, including the early feminist movement in both Scotland and Japan. Sakamoto’s focus on these places is not only due to her personal connection to them but also because of their invisibility within history.
The film animates a series of drawings inspired by archival images of the women of Crofthead Mills, Nielston, on strike, as well as the gestures of labour and the histories of these women. It also captures Sakamoto’s own experience of making textile herself.
Sakamoto has collected work songs from archival collections in Scotland and Japan, and in doing so has incorporated parts of these lyrics, rhythms and melodies to compose a “new work song” supported by musician Sarah McWhinney. Taking inspiration from Òrain Luaidh, ‘waulking songs’, Sakamoto explores the work song as a forgotten memory and tradition. ‘Waulking’ is a practice traditionally performed by women in the Highlands of Scotland, where most of the process of cloth-making was through manual labour in the early twentieth century as water mills were usually not available. Simple, beat-driven songs were used to accompany their labour, songs only women were allowed to sing.
The full ‘Knitting the Intangible Voices’ project is on exhibition at 16 Nicholson Street, Glasgow, until Sunday 4 July. Details on how to visit here
To view the publication that accompanies the full exhibition, click here
Curator: Isabella Shields with Aga Młyńczak
Installation Technician: Dylan Esposito
Technical Assistance: Aga Młyńczak
Publication Graphic Design: Ella McLean
Web Design: Rush Johnstone
Photography: Bart Urbanski
Special thanks to Frances Dunlop (Sgioba Luaidh Inbhirchluaidh), Lindsay Finnie, Caroline Gausden (Glasgow Women’s Library), Morag Henriksen, Sheila MacKay, Catherine MacPhee (Skye and Lochalsh Archive Centre)
Exhibition supported by Glasgow Women’s Library, Pola Art Foundation, Glasgow City Council, and Merchant City Print
Image Credit: Natsumi Sakamoto
- Year2021
- Runtime2'30
- CountryUnited Kingdom
- RatingPG
- NoteThemes: hands, repetition, movement, the body, machinery, mechanisation, spindles, thread, women’s rights, worker’s rights, feminism, protest
- DirectorNatsumi Sakamoto