See, Sketch, Sew: Crafting a Slower City (an Urban Wild Festival workshop)

What happens if we slow down in a city that’s usually speeding?

What might we hear? See? Feel? Smell?

What if we focus on the ground, or gaze high up?

What creatures can we spot, what plants can we find? What lives and grows around us, hidden in plain sight?

Join author-artists Nazneen Ahmed Pathak and Yarrow Townsend for a slow creative workshop where we will aim to notice, appreciate and celebrate the diversity of nature in the urban environment around us in Southampton.

We’ll start with a short sensory nature walk in the area near our venue, and then learn how to stitch or sketch the things we find using Bengali naksi kantha techniques (a simple-to-learn, ancient traditional form of reusing and recycling textiles). We’ll bring all the pieces together at the end of the workshop for an act of collective sharing.

You’ll then be able to take away your tiny artwork as a memento to the value of slowing down.

Useful information

All materials and instruction will be provided.

Participants of all ages welcome, including supervised children, families and adults. No previous experience is required to participate.

We are an LGBTQ+-inclusive, neurodivergent-inclusive, disability-inclusive, anti-racist event space. If you have any further questions about the content, or if there are ways we can support access, please get in touch via email.

As spaces are limited, advance booking is advised, but not essential.

Venue: Southampton Central Library - please note we will meet outside the main entrance, by the fountain before we undertake the sensory exploratory walk. Please ensure you have appropriate clothing for a brief period of time outdoors depending on the weather that day (e.g. waterproofs, sun cream).

Date: Saturday 23rd May 2026

Time: 10:30am – 12.30pm

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Nazneen Ahmed Pathak