The Sense of Touch: Creative and Historical Workshop

How important is the hand in handwork when you are in a state of flow? How does handwork contribute to personal wellbeing? Where do machines and technology, from Victorian sewing machines to contemporary debates around AI and the arts, sit in the relationship between the mind and body?

This workshop explores the sense of touch as a bridge between mind and body. You will explore rhythmic movement and tactile repetition as a way of entering a state of flow, setting the stage for discussion about how such states shape professional, artistic and personal identities.

The session invites reflection on the relationship between touch and wellbeing. You will consider how the hand operates when absorbed in skilled making and why handwork can feel grounding, restorative or emotionally sustaining. Discussion around historical collections will examine what is lost or gained when work becomes mechanised or mediated by technology. Drawing on historical and contemporary examples, from Victorian sewing machines to present-day debates around automation and AI in the arts, the workshop will explore where machines sit in relation to the mind-body-hand connection.

You will also have the chance to make part of a large textile sculpture with artist Ruth Singer. Selecting fabrics that reflect the workshop themes and discussion, participants will use hand stitches and stuffing to create three dimensional pieces that will inform a touring artwork to be displayed in 2027 at The Festival of Quilts.

This workshop takes place at The Quilters’ Guild, York, and is funded the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

This workshop is free and open to those interested in quilting and other forms of handwork. All participants must be aged 18+.

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Schedule

· Welcome: about The Victorian Hand (13.00-13.20)

· Reflective activity on our hands and what they do (13.20-13.40)

· Collections visit (13.40-14.20)

. Coffee/tea break (14.20-14.30)

· Discussion of collections (14.30-14.45)

· Hands-on textile activity (14.45-15.45)

· Reflections, photographing our hands and next steps (15.45-16.00)

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Additional information

Teas and coffees will be provided for attendees.

The workshop will be audio recorded for research purposes.

The workshop space has step free access via an elevator. If you have any additional access requirements, please contact [email protected]

This workshop is part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded Victorian Hand: Emotions, Embodiment and Identity project based at The University of the Arts London and Lancaster University and has been approved by the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, College Research Committee.

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