Tangled Threads
Rosie Galloway Smith is one of the four people awarded the commission to respond to ‘My Artful Way’.
The piece Rosie has created for the Artful Ways exhibition takes its inspiration from the industrial textile history of Carlisle, and the work that took place at Dixon’s Mill in the nineteenth century. This was one of the locations used to make cloth for enslaved people in the American plantations to make into clothes, which they had to wear. Cotton for the cloth, which was picked by enslaved people, was carried by ship from America to Port Carlisle; then the cloth was taken back to Port Carlisle to be shipped to America.
Rosie’s Artful Way route followed the path of the old canal from Dixon’s Mill to Port Carlisle. The physical walk was bound up with conversations and contemplations connected with hidden histories and trauma. The subject is sensitive and may be upsetting for some people – if you would like to find out more about her work, and the process that led to the creation of her textile piece, please visit her page here.
