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A collaborative exhibition with textile artists Cas Holmes & Rosie James

 

The Batsford Gallery is looking forward to welcoming a brand-new textile art exhibition from 2nd – 22nd June!

Batsford authors Cas Holmes and Rosie James will be exhibiting their collaborative show ‘A Sense of Place’ where they will bring together two bodies of work that speak to each other about people and place; inspired by travel and migration. 

The exhibition will be running through June at Batsford’s gallery space on Hackney Road, so make sure to drop in for gorgeous textile artworks and a signed copy of their books.

 

       

OPENING HOURS:

Thursdays – Fridays 12–7pm

Saturdays – Sundays 11–6pm

 

Meet the artists and book signing on THURSDAY 22ND JUNE 12-3PM

 

 

‘Cloud Crowd’ and ‘Shipping Forecast’ reflect upon the movement of people whether in a hurry for work, leisure or even in some cases forced to flee. “Travel and migration are part of human history. We saw the possibility of reflecting on this story by the interaction of these works.”

The exhibition is free, so please come along and visit this stunning display of textile art in East London, where there will also be pieces available to purchase.

 

 

Cas Holmes is one of the UK’s most renowned textile artists. She exhibits widely and runs courses at West Dean College. She has written several books for Batsford, including Embroidering the Everyday, Connected Cloth, Stitch Stories and Textile Landscape.

Rosie James is a textile artist living in Kent. She studied printed textiles and fine art and now works as an artist and lecturer. She exhibits her work widely and has pieces in museums in the UK and US. She is the author of Stitch Draw, published by Batsford.

 

     

We’re very excited to present the winners and runners up of the Batsford Prize 2023!

The five winners and eight runners up of this year’s award were announced at an awards event celebrating the shortlist at the newly opened Batsford Gallery last night.

For the first time in the Batsford’s Prize ten-year history, the 28 shortlisted entries were also celebrated in an exhibition, which is open until Sunday 28th May.

In his opening speech, Vaughan Grylls, Batsford Chairman and one of the award’s judges, commended all the shortlisted entries, something that was echoed by the judges throughout the awards presentation.

The winning entries were ‘Tranquil Japan’ by Pia Elliot (Applied Arts & Textiles), ‘Mattress’ by Alivia Hoy (Fine Art), ‘Tribe’ by Megan Du (Illustration), ‘How to Catch an Idea’ by Forest Xiao. The winners each received a £300 cash prize, £100 worth of Batsford books and £300 worth of books for their college. In addition, ‘Icarus from Underground’ by Ziyi Wang won £100 cash and £50 worth of books in the Chairman’s Award, a special award for this year.

Alivia Hoy’s ‘Mattress’ was crowned the overall winner across the categories, which was awarded with an additional £300 cash prize. About her work, Vaughan Grylls said:

‘Not only was it a striking piece of work, it also said something about being at peace, which was our theme this year, and it was also very touching’.

The Batsford Prize 2023 was judged by industry professionals Gemma Doyle, Neil Dunnicliffe, Frida Green, Hattie Grylls, Vaughan Grylls, Anne Kelly and Sam Peet.

The full list of the winners and runners up of the Batsford Prize 2023:

 

Winner of the Fine Art Category and overall Batsford Prize 2023 winner:

 

Mattress

Alivia Hoy, Fine Art, Loughborough University

‘Mattress’ is an acrylic painting on a baby’s cot mattress depicting an older man. This work shows a peaceful record of time, reflecting on the moments interacted with the mattress from birth to old age.

 

FINE ART

 

Runners up:

Exposure

Rose Willis, Fine Art, Norwich University of the Arts

Exploring emotional intimacy and vulnerability within relationships, particularly intergender relationships. Using nudity as allegory for the feeling of being exposed to another person, capturing a moment within a relationship by using an immediate painting style and raw canvas.

 

From the Secret Garden

Xinyi Bi, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University

An interactive installation with three levels of space, crafted using pop-up paper art and nylon craftsmanship, and presented in stop-motion animation.

 

APPLIED ART & TEXTILES

Winner:

Tranquil Japan

Pia Elliot, BA Textiles, Arts University Bournemouth

A compilation stimulated by the harmony found in traditional Japanese tea houses. The collection features a unique take on every perspective of these historical locations using CAD embroidery, print and laser work to bring a sense of tranquillity into a bespoke, interior space.

 

Runners up:

Mauritian Landscapes

Georgia Dunn, BA Textiles, Arts University Bournemouth

I chose this theme inspired by a recent trip, stimulated by the amazing, contrasting scenery. My aim was to explore the natural tropical environment looking at both foliage and architectural elements, aiming to combine abstract gestural marks with figurative elements.

 

The Departing Dress

Katerina Knight, Masters in Textiles, Royal College of Art London

A material memoir. An ode to healing. What is it like to be on the edge of life, to be faced with death and come back again? Perhaps you can not come back again, perhaps you can only move forward. Working with organic elements, home grown, locally foraged or collected over time.

 

ILLUSTRATION

Winner:

Tribe

Megan Du, Illustration and Visual Media, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London

‘Tribe’ is a story dedicated to all women that explores the exploitation of modern women by beauty standards from a patriarchal society.

 

Runners up:

Crusts

Naomi Tipping, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University

A sequence about escaping the monotony of every day life, and finding peace in feeding the seagulls.

 

Tiny Town

Becky Steel, BA Illustration, University Of Hertfordshire

Tiny Town is based on my small southern Italian home town Calabritto. Inspired by the picturesque mountainscapes, traditional crafts and family, my vivid memories have been brought to life in a collection of vibrant illustrations and hand made embroideries.

 

CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATION

Winner:

How To Catch An Idea

Forest Xiao, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University

This is a story about a girl who travels to look for a world-changing idea. On her journey, she met all kinds of people/nature and they talk about ideas/creativity/inspiration. In the end, she did not find the idea but she is at peace with it and her inner world is transformed.

 

Runners up:

Shut Down

Becky Colvin, BA Illustration, University of the West of England Bristol

Shut Down is a picture book about grief and a boy who won’t take off his robot costume.

 

One Fine Day

Justin Worsley, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University

One Fine Day is a fictional picture book about friendship, laughter and forgiveness.

 

CHAIRMAN’S AWARD WINNER:

Icarus From Underground

Ziyi Wang, MA Fine Art Media, Slade School of Fine Art, University College London

Projecting on folded papers, this video installation documents an attempt to fly paper planes in the underground. Planes are made from protest posters, mimic doves fly in a downward system. It echoes individual political feelings in a Covid-time Chinese transmigrant situation.

The Batsford Prize 2023 Shortlist Exhibition shows 28 student artworks responding to the theme ‘At Peace’ which were shortlisted in the annual award.

The exhibition is a showcase of Applied Art & Textiles, Fine Art, Illustration and Children’s Illustration and features a mix of print and original illustrations, books, textiles, paintings, photography, video, as well as a paper sculpture and an installation.

Artists exhibiting are:

Xinyi Bi, Becky Colvin, Megan Du, Georgia Dunn, Pia Elliot, Charlotte Gouny, Callum Howat-Tracy, Alivia Hoy, Laura K Sayers, Katerina Knight, Carol Law, Yutong Lu, Jeannie Malcolm, Aimee Mann, Katie May, Valerya Milovanova, Fatima Ordinola Guerra, Victoria Reeves, Georgia Richardson, Mishelle Sherri, Becky Steel, Naomi Tipping, Ava Tribušon Ovsenik, Ziyi Wang, Rose Willis, Justin Worsley, Forest Xiao and Ally Zlatar.

Find out more about the shortlist here and the winners and runners up of the Batsford Prize 2023 here (link to follow).

The Batsford Prize 2023 Shortlist Exhibition is showing until Sunday 28 May.

Place: Batsford Gallery, 266 Hackney Road, London E2 7SJ

Opening hours: Thursday–Friday 12–19, Saturday–Sunday 11–18.

Entry is free.

In this talk, expert crafter Kerstin Neumüller welcomes you to an exciting world of weaving that doesn’t involve large floor looms. She will introduce a range of weaving methods and the many striking effects you can achieve while using simple tools that often fit in your pocket. Kerstin will show you some of the amazing projects you can make, including Scandi-style bands, give a glimpse into her own creative practice and talk about how she discovered the joy and satisfaction of carving her own weaving tools. You will also get to try your hands at some weaving techniques.

 

 

Date: Thursday 11 May

Time: 18–20

Place: Batsford Gallery, 266 Hackney Road, London E2 7SJ

Price: Tickets are £5, redeemable against a purchase on the evening, and includes a glass of wine/soft drink.

 

 

Kerstin’s book Simple Weave: Weave without a large loom will be available for purchase on the night, featuring 15 weaving projects, techniques and a guide to making your own tools.

 

Kerstin Neumüller is a crafter, tailor and author with many years of textile studies behind her. In 2020 she picked up a woodworking knife, which led her down a different path of carving weaving tools. Kerstin’s earlier books are called Indigo: Cultivate, dye, create and Mend and Patch. She can be found on Instagram.

 

The Batsford Gallery is Batsford’s new East London gallery space; bright and airy and located between Broadway Market and Columbia Road, showcasing work by leading artists, makers and designers. The exhibition showing on 11th May is Quilts: A Material Culture, featuring the work by quilters Catherine Marie Longtin, Julius Arthur, Sophie Giller, Adam Herbert and Kate Williams.

 

We’re delighted to announce The Batsford Prize 2023 shortlist!

The theme of this year’s award is ‘At Peace’. Read on to discover the 28 shortlisted entries – 7 for each of the categories Applied Arts & Textiles, Fine Art, Illustration and Children’s Illustration.

Judges are professionals from across the creative industries: Gemma Doyle, Neil Dunnicliffe, Frida Green, Hattie Grylls, Vaughan Grylls, Anne Kelly and Sam Peet.

The winners of the Batsford Prize 2023 will be announced in May. First prize in all categories is a £300 cash prize and £100 worth of books from Batsford. Plus: An additional £300 cash prize for an overall winner across the categories.

 

The Shortlist

 

APPLIED ART & TEXTILES

 

In Loving Memory

Aimee Mann, BA Fashion, Northumbria University

My project comes from the loss of a loved one to cancer. It explores the emotion of grief and how I have come to the stage of acceptance. Just like how the body releases the soul’s energy to finally be at peace after death.

 

In the Mountains

Georgia Richardson, BA Textile Design, Norwich University of Arts

Woven textile collection for a ski chalet interior. Inspired by skiing in the Austrian mountains.

 

Mauritian Landscapes

Georgia Dunn, BA Textiles, Arts University Bournemouth

I chose this theme inspired by a recent trip, stimulated by the amazing, contrasting scenery. My aim was to explore the natural tropical environment looking at both foliage and architectural elements, aiming to combine abstract gestural marks with figurative elements.

 

Rêverie à Versailles

Charlotte Gouny, Textiles in Practice, Manchester Metropolitan University

My project is based on Versailles, because it is a place of fantasy and calm when it is empty. I produced a collection of mixed media and knitted samples to convey Versailles.

 

Stillness & Harmony:
A Fashion Trimmings Collection Inspired by Dame Barbara Hepworth

Jeannie Malcolm, BA Textile Design, Falmouth University

Inspired by a visit to her sculpture gardens in St Ives – being ‘At Peace’ is something I overwhelmingly experienced. The collection captures the essence of her artistry while offering a fresh perspective on her iconic work through the combination of hard and soft materials.

 

The Departing Dress

Katerina Knight, Masters in Textiles, Royal College of Art London

A material memoir. An ode to healing. What is it like to be on the edge of life, to be faced with death and come back again? Perhaps you can not come back again, perhaps you can only move forward. Working with organic elements, home grown, locally foraged or collected over time.

 

Tranquil Japan

Pia Elliot, BA Textiles, Arts University Bournemouth

A compilation stimulated by the harmony found in traditional Japanese tea houses. The collection features a unique take on every perspective of these historical locations using CAD embroidery, print and laser work to bring a sense of tranquillity into a bespoke, interior space.

 

FINE ART

 

Bring Me Back to the Start

Mishel Sherri, BA Illustration, University of Hertfordshire

This hand-cut paper sculpture, painted with watercolour, represents the blissful state of non-existence.

 

Exposure

Rose Willis, Fine Art, Norwich University of the Arts

Exploring emotional intimacy and vulnerability within relationships, particularly intergender relationships. Using nudity as allegory for the feeling of being exposed to another person, capturing a moment within a relationship by using an immediate painting style and raw canvas.

 

Flatlands

Ava Tribušon Ovsenik, MA Print, Royal College of Art

A collage of images taken of people flocking towards Westminster Palace. Layered stills, each capturing a unique composition of the never-static hypnotised crowd, were printed on top of one another to perpetuate the atmosphere between arbitrary waiting and oblivious excitement.

 

From the Secret Garden

Xinyi Bi, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University

An interactive installation with three levels of space, crafted using pop-up paper art and nylon craftsmanship, and presented in stop-motion animation.

 

Icarus From Underground

Ziyi Wang, MA Fine Art Media, Slade School of Fine Art, University College London

Projecting on folded papers, this video installation documents an attempt to fly paper planes in the underground. Planes are made from protest posters, mimic doves fly in a downward system. It echoes individual political feelings in a Covid-time Chinese transmigrant situation.

 

Mattress

Alivia Hoy, Fine Art, Loughborough University

‘Mattress’ is an acrylic painting on a baby’s cot mattress depicting an older man. This work shows a peaceful record of time, reflecting on the moments interacted with the mattress from birth to old age.

 

The Starving Artist

Ally Zlatar, DCA – Creative Arts, University of Glasgow / University of Southern Queensland

Auto-ethnographic paintings documenting a 10 year journey with anorexia, highlighting untold struggles & recovery journey towards body acceptance & self-peace. Breaking silence & raising awareness on eating disorders & mental health resources.

 

ILLUSTRATION

 

Crusts

Naomi Tipping, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University

A sequence about escaping the monotony of every day life, and finding peace in feeding the seagulls.

 

Dora in Burgess Park

Callum Howat-Tracy, MA Illustration and Sequential Design, Brighton University

As a general focus of my MA, I have been making animated loops of illustrated scenes; this piece was adjacent to my MA work. My partner and I were walking her auntie’s dog in Burgess Park, London, where I felt so at peace and calmly joyful and wanted to capture the moment.

 

Enjoy Peace in Four Seasons

Yutong Lu, BA Illustration, Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh

Peace to me means enjoying life tranquilly. Childhood inspires my peace. For each season, I built a serene recollection. I used digital media and four colour palettes to help audiences feel the changing seasons and find tranquilly in my illustrations.

 

The Simmer Dim Series

Laura K Sayers, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University

A series of 5 miniature illustrations, each delicately hand cut from paper, inspired by traditional Shetlandic words. ‘The Simmer Dim’ refers to midsummer on the island of Shetland, a time of endless daylight where the sun barely sets but rests on the horizon before rising again.

 

This Quiet Belonging

Victoria Reeves, BA Illustration, Norwich University of the Arts

This Quiet Belonging is a short form booklet, illustrated without words. My project focuses around the experiences of queer people finding peace and security in domestic spaces and the quiet beauty of the every day.

 

Tiny Town

Becky Steel, BA Illustration, University Of Hertfordshire

Tiny Town is based on my small southern Italian home town Calabritto. Inspired by the picturesque mountainscapes, traditional crafts and family, my vivid memories have been brought to life in a collection of vibrant illustrations and hand made embroideries.

 

Tribe

Megan Du, Illustration and Visual Media, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London

‘Tribe’ is a story dedicated to all women that explores the exploitation of modern women by beauty standards from a patriarchal society.

 

CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATION

 

How To Catch An Idea

Forest Xiao, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University

This is a story about a girl who travels to look for a world-changing idea. On her journey, she met all kinds of people/nature and they talk about ideas/creativity/inspiration. In the end, she did not find the idea but she is at peace with it and her inner world is transformed.

 

I am Upset

Valerya Milovanova, BA Illustration, University of Hertfordshire

The book I am Upset features a child dealing with a strong emotion represented as a beast. They go through the process of grounding and attuning to five core senses (hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste). The illustrations are made with ink, graphite and coloured digitally.

 

One Fine Day

Justin Worsley, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University

One Fine Day is a fictional picture book about friendship, laughter and forgiveness.

 

Our Love

Fatima Ordinola Guerra, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University

Our Love is a picturebook made in one of the modules I’m studying in the MA Children’s Book Illustration at Anglia Ruskin University. It’s a story about moments of love and peace that parents and children share in the shape of different animals.

 

Shut Down

Becky Colvin, BA Illustration, University of the West of England Bristol

Shut Down is a picture book about grief and a boy who won’t take off his robot costume.

 

The Chair and the Snooze

Carol Law, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University

Morris the dog likes to snooze and when a new chair arrives in the family home, he only has one thing on his mind. But when things don’t go to plan, the snooze has to wait. A change of plan can be stressful, so will Morris be at peace with both the change and the final outcome?

 

The Postman

Katie May, MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University
The Postman is a wordless graphic novel depicting daily life with some of its ups and downs. It intends to provide a glimpse into the working life of someone providing a service most of us take for granted.

Celebrating the publication, in April 2023, of Chris’s latest book, City Parks: A stroll around the world’s most beautiful public places.

Every city dweller knows that parks are an essential part of modern life. These much-needed sanctuaries from urban bustle are places for playing, thinking, exercising, dating and just being. In this illustrated talk, inspired by his latest book City Parks, travel and architecture journalist Chris Beanland takes you on a tour around the world’s best parks in a true celebration of parklife.

Here are the storied greats such as Central Park in New York and Phoenix Park in Dublin. But Chris will also tell you about parks in the Philippines, South Korea, Australia, Germany, Spain and beyond to showcase the most interesting, the newest and the most cutting-edge that mix the best of nature and architecture. The talk will explore what you can find in parks, who goes there, why they are important, and how parks respond to their environments, including ones in a dried-up riverbed, on old rail lines and in Berlin’s former airport.

 

Chris Beanland’s diverse body of work covers architecture, leisure, satire and the media. He is also the author of Lido and Unbuilt, as well as two novels. His journalistic writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph and The Long Short. He is also the host of Park Date, a comedy podcast. He can be found on Twitter and Instagram

 

General Admission: £5.50

Copies of the book will be on sale at the event.

 

City Parks

A visually stunning and beautifully written celebration of park life around the world.

The pandemic brought into sharp relief what city dwellers already realised: parks are an absolutely essential part of modern life. From the author who brought you Lido, here are 50 of the world’s greatest parks – but not just a list of the examples we already know. Yes, we’ll tell you about those storied greats such as Central Park in New York and Phoenix Park in Dublin, but we’ll also take you to the Philippines, to Australia, to provincial Britain and around the world to show you the most historic and the most interesting, the newest and most cutting-edge that mix the best of nature and architecture. We’ll explore what you can find there, who goes there, why they are important, and how parks respond to their environments, including ones over a road, on old rail lines or in Berlin’s former airport. Examples include:

• Freeway Park, Seattle, USA: a bizarre and brilliant brutalist park over a motorway.

• Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, Brazil: this one contains amazing galleries and theatres.

• Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, UK: mountains within a city.

• Adelaide’s parks, Australia: unique in that the entire city centre is enclosed by parks.

and many, many more. Illustrated with glorious photographs throughout, this book is a fascinating record of the world’s most interesting and innovative parks, and the people who use them – you’ll want to visit them all.

 

Banner image:

Victoria Park, London, UK

Nathaniel Noir / Alamy

 

We are very excited to host this fantastic exhibition for London Craft Week 2023 at our newly opened Batsford Gallery on Hackney Road.

A ‘state of the craft’ survey of contemporary quilt-making, building upon a resurgence of interest in quilts as functional art, five artists with distinctive practices demonstrate the pliancy of a form which stretches from contemplative colour study to organic abstraction to the avant-garde.⁠

Featured Artists: ⁠

Julius Arthur – House of Quinn
Sophie Gillier
Adam Herbert
Catherine-Marie Longtin
Kate Williams

Quilts: A Material Culture will run from the 9th of May to the 14th of May during London Craft Week 2023.

About

A quilt is multilayered, complex in both material and meaning. It is intimate and public, autobiographical and communal. It can be didactic or celebratory; rhythmic and mathematical in form or freehand, figurative, functional. Quilts connect us all by threads and scraps to memory and narrative, to traces of community and history. They are a practice, a language, a material culture that can be endlessly revived, reworked and, as here, renewed.

The artists share a deep engagement with the materiality of cloth as the springboard for expression, present in each act of cutting, placing, layering and stitching which, finally, forms a coherent whole.

Catherine-Marie Longtin draws on minimalist abstract art in a conversation between material and technique, concept and form, reference and creation.

Julius Arthur’s work blurs the boundary between art and function; objects bear meaning through their connection with the day-to-day.

Sophie Giller’s work emphasises process, labour, craft, care, domesticity, emotion and the social history of everyday materials.

Adam Herbert embraces and celebrates small mismatches of pattern which show the hand of the maker.

In Kate Williams’ large quilted panels, imagined architectural forms cast high-key shadows in desaturated, empty landscapes.

The Batsford Gallery is our new East London gallery space; bright and airy and located between Broadway Market and Columbia Road, showcasing work by leading artists, makers and designers.

 

 

The exhibition is free to visit.

 

EVENT DETAILS

9 May 2023, 12:00 – 16:00
10 May 2023 – 12 May 2023, 12:00 – 19:00
13 May 2023 – 14 May 2023, 11:00 – 18:00

 

VENUE INFORMATION

Batsford Gallery

266 Hackney Road

E2 7SJ

 

 

Image credits:

Banner – Kate Williams Studio

Adam Herbert

Kate Williams Studio

Catherine-Marie Longtin

We are delighted to announce that gardening and horticultural author Miranda Janatka will be appearing at the Reading Room on Mother’s Day, 19th March.

From 12.00pm until 2.00pm, Miranda will be signing copies of her beautiful book A Flower A Day. Perfect as a personalised gift on this significant day, pop along to meet Miranda and share your love of flowers, as she inscribes a copy with a special message for your loved one.

Miranda is the Senior Content Creator for BBC Gardeners’  World Magazine. She graduated from the Courtauld Institute of Art and has worked as a Botanical Horticulturist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

A Flower A Day

In her book, A Flower A Day, Miranda presents us with fascinating stories and images of flowering plants for each day of the year. Revealing more than just their beauty, we learn about their historical, folkloric and literary importance within society, from the specific perfumed rose that flowers in Grasse, France to the inspiration behind William Wordsworth’s ‘host of golden daffodils’. This compilation covers both native and exotic flowers, and uses a mix of photographs, artworks, and illustrations to chart the seasons and showcase the sheer diversity of the natural world. Captivating and entertaining, it is a beautiful companion, not just for the botanist, but will lift spirits daily as you turn the page to reveal today’s blooms.

  

 

Where: The Reading Room, Burford Garden Centre, Shilton Road, Burford, Oxfordshire, OX18 4PA

When: 19 March 2023, 12 noon – 2pm

This event is free and no booking is required

We are pleased to present The Batsford Prize 2023!

The award is open for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying at a UK institution, with over £4,500 of prizes to be won.

There are four categories to enter:

  • Applied Art and Textiles
  • Fine Art
  • Illustration
  • Children’s Illustration

Plus:

  • Prize for overall winner

The winner in each category will receive a £300 cash prize. Winners and runners up will also receive books from Batsford.

Read more about the award and how to enter.

Batsford will publish Inside Ukraine: A Portrait of a Country and its People by Ukraïner next month. The book is a visual exploration of the real Ukraine featuring over 350 photographs, lovingly put together by the Ukraïner team in the years leading up to the current war.

Publisher Polly Powell acquired English language UK, Europe, US and Aus rights from Rights Director Ivan Fedechko at The Old Lion Publishing House, Lviv.

Powell commented: ‘This book came into my hands as a gift from the Ukrainian family I was hosting in London. It, along with the mother and two girls, had travelled 30 hours to get to us, via a bus, a train journey to the Polish border and then a flight from Krakow. They didn’t know I was a book publisher and my immediate interest was a surprise to them. It was obvious both that they needed to sleep, and that the book needed to be published in the English-speaking world. It was written before the war and it is a wonderful portrait of what it means to be Ukrainian.’

Ukraïner is a volunteer-run multimedia project launched in 2016. It aims both to help Ukrainians discover the varied regions of their country, and to promote Ukraine to the wider world. Its volunteers travel the country to explore its landscape, customs and people.

In Inside Ukraine, readers will discover picturesque villages, stunning mountain scenery, medieval fortresses, curious museums and even a bear sanctuary. Along the way is a huge cast of characters including traditional carol singers, wild honey farmers, potters, sheep-breeders and broom-makers. Also included are a wealth of QR codes that can be scanned to unlock longer articles on the Ukraïner website, along with more images and videos, giving a whole new dimension to the book.

inside ukraine cover

Inside Ukraine by Ukraïner is publishing by Batsford on 16 February 2023 and is available for pre-order now.
ISBN 9781849948555, RRP £25, Hardback.

Find out more

A patchwork of memories, making, travel and textiles by Anne Kelly, exhibited at The Harley Gallery

Visit the Harley Gallery between January and March this winter to explore textile artist Anne Kelly’s work in abundance.

In Anne’s hands, scraps of fabric, bits and bobs, images and ideas are combined and transformed. The resulting multi-layered and densely stitched embroideries which have been described as ‘small worlds’. These small worlds are often a kind of travel diary. Travel in the sense of trains, boats and planes, but also travel in the sense of personal journeys over time and through history.

Anne derives immense joy and inspiration from new places and new people. She keeps many sketchbooks, wherein she collects bits and pieces, images and ideas. But when making her work she likes to start with a piece of fabric – even a scrap – and build on that. She is a collector (if not a hoarder) of textile related flotsam and jetsam. But she also collects memories; of places she has visited in person, and also places and scenes she has visited in exhibitions, in books and films.

This exhibition celebrates Anne’s book Textile Travels where she shows how to capture your travels, past and present, in stitch with practical techniques sitting alongside inspiring images. Beginning the book by discussing maps in textile art, she goes on to explore the influence of different cultures from across the globe on textile art. From India and Peru to Scotland and Scandinavia, this beautiful book shows how to harness traditional techniques, fabrics, motifs and colours for use in your own work.

 

 

Anne’s work reminds us that the mind keeps travelling, regardless of what our bodies are doing. This exhibition invites you to step into Anne’s ‘small worlds’ and join her to celebrate memories of travelling.

 

Books by Anne Kelly will be available to purchase in the shop.

Tickets: FREE – drop in!

Tickets available for half term courses

 

About the author

Trained in Canada and at Goldsmiths College in London, Anne creates wall hangings and objects using a mixture of mixed media collage and hand and machine embroidery. Her inspirations are taken from travel, memory, nature and especially folk art. She is a member of the Embroiderers Guild UK, the Crafts Council Directory, the European Textile Network and the Society for Embroidered Work. Anne exhibits widely, has published four books on textile art, and runs regular workshops on textiles and mixed media art. She has been artist in residence in a beautiful garden in Sussex and a hilltop village in Italy.

 

Events

Patchworks of Places // Take part in our free drop-in community art project

Superhero Mask Workshop // 17th February 10.30am – 12noon

Superhero Cape Workshop // 17th February 12.30pm – 2pm

Artist Talk // Free // 17th February 2.30pm – 3pm

Moving Memories // One-day class at Hope and Elvis inspired by Anne’s latest book ‘Textile Travels’ // 18th February

Batsford are looking for a keen and capable Editorial Assistant to work with us in our busy editorial department. Supporting our friendly team of editors and designers, core duties would include:

  • Hands-on editorial work
  • Writing cover copy and producing sales material along with managing metadata
  • Processing submissions
  • Handling post and couriers including author copies
  • Assisting at book launch events
  • Overseeing our programme of reprints
  • Liaising with authors and our network of freelance editors and designers
  • Picture research
  • Arranging copyright permissions
  • Handling contracts and invoices
  • Managing department databases

We’re looking for someone educated to graduate level with strong organisational and IT skills, a keen eye for detail and a love of books. Experience with Adobe InDesign preferable but not essential. If you’re interested in this exciting opportunity, please send your CV and a covering letter to jobs@batsfordbooks.com by 20 January 2023.

Batsford is a thriving independent publisher established in 1843. Over the last 180 years, Batsford has developed an enviable reputation in the areas of heritage, textiles, design, art, nature and chess. Our bestselling authors include Millie Marotta, Adam Dant, Elain Harwood, The Twentieth Century Society, Hazel Soan, Cas Holmes and many more.