HEALLREAF 2019

A PRESTIGIOUS exhibition is to be held in Nottingham.

Work of tapestry artists from across the globe has been selected for an international exhibition which will be displayed in Nottingham and London.

Heallreaf 2019 showcases the work of 40 exhibitors. It is the brainchild of Margaret Jones, herself a tapestry weaver

She recalls how the whole idea began in a boardroom near Buckingham Palace. “The interview with 10 trustees of the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (Qest) was the final stage of my successful bid for a scholarship from the Trust to help pay for the final year of my Master of Fine Arts at West Dean College [in Chichester]. Part of my commitment to Qest was to attempt to place modern tapestry back in the fine art world where it started all those centuries ago.”

She says that it was difficult to decide on a name for her exhibition but after much research she discovered that the word “heallreaf” (pronounced hair-lreff) was Anglo Saxon for “a tapestry hung in a public place”.

As Margaret approached the end of her final year at West Dean College in 2015 she noticed that the students’ studios would be empty during the summer. “So I asked the college if I could use the space to hold an exhibition. They agreed and that was the first Heallreaf exhibition.”

The exhibition runs from Saturday, September 7, until Saturday, September 21, at Surface Gallery, Southwell Road, Nottingham. The exhibition then move to the Espacio Gallery in London from Tuesday, October 15, until Saturday, October 26.