Open Call: BTB 10 Year survey Show – The Harris Interactive Commission
Background:
British Textile Biennial (BTB) is a free festival of contemporary art that commissions artists and designers from across the UK and internationally to make work inspired by the context,
histories and continuing legacies of textiles in Lancashire and its global connections.
In 2027, BTB will mark ten years of commissioning with a major survey exhibition at The Harris, Preston. Bringing together works and stories from across BTB’s programme, the exhibition will reflect on a decade of artistic responses to textiles, labour, place, materials and making, while looking towards the future and bringing contemporary art to new audiences.
As part of the exhibition, British Textile Biennial and The Harris are seeking to co-commission a new interactive artwork incorporating textiles for audiences of all ages, creating a playful and participatory way into the ideas explored throughout the exhibition.
Open Call: BTB 10 Year survey Show – The Harris Interactive Commission
The Opportunity: We are looking for an artist, designer or collective to develop an ambitious interactive work of scale that responds to the themes and ideas running through ten years of British Textile Biennial.
Across its programme, BTB has used textiles as a way of exploring wider questions about people, place and the world around us – from global connections, labour and making to fashion and consumption, migration, sustainability, traditional knowledge, technological innovation and our changing relationships with materials.
We are interested in how these ideas might be encountered differently through participation. The commission must incorporate textiles, but its form and approach are open. The work might be sculptural, spatial, sensory, digital and/or immersive, or bring together several of these approaches. It could invite visitors to play, explore, assemble, manipulate or contribute; evolve through participation over the course of the exhibition; or propose an entirely different form of interaction.
The commission will occupy a dedicated space in the central room of the exhibition, measuring 3 m × 6.6 m, with two walls available for hanging work to a height of 4.1 m.
Proposals should be developed with this space in mind, considering how visitors will enter, move through and interact with the work.
The Commission
The successful artist or collective will receive:
- A commissioning budget of £10,000, to cover artist fees, materials, fabrication, travel and other project expenses.
- Curatorial and production support from British Textile Biennial and The Harris.
- Support around access, participation and the practical requirements of creating the work.
- Professional documentation of the completed work.
- Inclusion within the wider BTB 10 Year Survey exhibition and associated communications and events programme.
The work will be presented at The Harris, Preston, from 29 May – 31 August 2027. As the commission is intended for regular interaction, proposals should consider how the work will remain safe, accessible and engaging throughout the exhibition. Depending on its form, this may include durability, technical support, maintenance or the replacement and replenishment of materials.
Applications should be sent to: [email protected]
Thumbnail image: Jasleen Kaur, Sociomobile | Credit – Christopher Thomund
