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 ↓
Although the 'infinite hands' film programme is no longer available, this film can also be watched here
The ‘infinite hands’ film programme draws to a close with a short documentary that portrays almost the exact opposite of the ‘make-do-and-mend’ philosophy that it opened with.
'Unravel' follows the Western world’s least wanted clothes on a journey across Northern India, from sea to industrial interior, where they are recycled back into yarn.
Along the route, women workers in textile factories sort, shred and prepare the clothes for recycling. As they work, they reflect on the clothes and construct a picture of the lives of their previous wearers, using their imaginations and the rumours that travel with the cast-offs.
Reshma has spent 15 years working in clothes recycling factories in Panipat, and has never left the city. Sorting through the mountains of clothes by colour, she dreams of one day travelling the same vast distances as the clothes she handles.
This short, colourful documentary provides a fascinating insight into the circular route that present-day textiles take: often originally manufactured in India, shipped globally, then returned to be recycled back into yarn (and sometimes woven into other textiles that will be sold back to the West). It also speaks volumes about two very different cultures and a lifestyle that makes cheap, “fast” fashion the norm.
- Year2012
- Runtime14 minutes
- LanguageHindi, English subtitles
- CountryIndia
- RatingPG
- NoteThemes: labour, women’s work, material culture, fast fashion, identity
- DirectorMeghna Gupta
- ProducerMeghna Gupta, Gigi Berardi
- Executive ProducerTony Clark, Lucy Norris
- CinematographerSusanne Willett
- MusicEleni Hassabis
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 ↓
Although the 'infinite hands' film programme is no longer available, this film can also be watched here
The ‘infinite hands’ film programme draws to a close with a short documentary that portrays almost the exact opposite of the ‘make-do-and-mend’ philosophy that it opened with.
'Unravel' follows the Western world’s least wanted clothes on a journey across Northern India, from sea to industrial interior, where they are recycled back into yarn.
Along the route, women workers in textile factories sort, shred and prepare the clothes for recycling. As they work, they reflect on the clothes and construct a picture of the lives of their previous wearers, using their imaginations and the rumours that travel with the cast-offs.
Reshma has spent 15 years working in clothes recycling factories in Panipat, and has never left the city. Sorting through the mountains of clothes by colour, she dreams of one day travelling the same vast distances as the clothes she handles.
This short, colourful documentary provides a fascinating insight into the circular route that present-day textiles take: often originally manufactured in India, shipped globally, then returned to be recycled back into yarn (and sometimes woven into other textiles that will be sold back to the West). It also speaks volumes about two very different cultures and a lifestyle that makes cheap, “fast” fashion the norm.
- Year2012
- Runtime14 minutes
- LanguageHindi, English subtitles
- CountryIndia
- RatingPG
- NoteThemes: labour, women’s work, material culture, fast fashion, identity
- DirectorMeghna Gupta
- ProducerMeghna Gupta, Gigi Berardi
- Executive ProducerTony Clark, Lucy Norris
- CinematographerSusanne Willett
- MusicEleni Hassabis