Interview with textile artist Hannah Lamb about her Fragments of a Dress installation at Bronte Parsonage Museum

Over the years a succession of artists have been invited to respond to the extensive collection and the latest work to arrive at the museum is a beautiful installation by Bingley-based textile artist Hannah Lamb. The piece Fragments of a Dress is on display as part of the museum’s current exhibition Defying Expectations which focuses on some of the remarkable garments and accessories worn by Charlotte Brontë. These brightly coloured, fashionable items act as a forceful counterpoint to the preconceived notion that Charlotte was as ‘plain and obscure’ as her most famous creation Jane Eyre.

Fragments of a Dress is an interactive artwork inspired by Charlotte’s costumes but also by other items in the museum’s collection including small pieces of cloth associated with Charlotte. Lamb was particularly struck by these as they were clearly treasured keepsakes. “It was so interesting seeing those fragments of cloth which Charlotte had collected,” she says. “You can have a little scrap of material and yet it is really powerful. I started thinking about how people hang on to things and wondered what do they keep? And why do they keep it? I think many of us have something like that packed away somewhere, whether it is a child’s first baby-grow or a party dress or a jacket associated with someone or a certain time.”

Working together with the museum staff Lamb then came up with an idea that would allow visitors to participate in a project exploring themes around clothing and the important part it can play in personal narratives and memories. “One of the things the museum is keen to do is to present work that people can engage with, so the idea was to get visitors to tell me about their special items of clothing. We set up an installation where people could write something for me. There is always this moment when you are not sure if it’s going to work but it was great – lots of people took part and shared their stories. What I wanted was for the project to be meaningful and relevant to people – and I think it does that.”

The positive and expansive response from the public demonstrates that, even in our modern age of throwaway fashion, fabric and textiles do in fact have a longevity in both physical and emotional terms. “We live in this fast fashion era where clothing is a disposable thing but despite that people do have those special memories associated with textiles – it does still have that power. What was surprising was the number of people who told me about handmade items or things they had mended or that they were prolonging the life of. Some people wrote about something that was really comfy or that made them feel good or something that reminded them of their mum or dad. There were some really lovely unexpected responses.”

The collected handwritten stories were then carefully embroidered onto a specially created transparent silk dress. That was quite a task and it was at this point that Lamb, who is a lecturer at Bradford College, decided that she needed some help.

“I realised it was going to take me a long time to do them all and that’s when I got my students in to help. I run the foundation degree in textile practice and they are all mature students and part-time. They were thrilled to be involved but also it was really nice to sit together and stitch them all. That was very special – sitting together, reading the stories together, stitching and spending time with the words was lovely.”

The actual act of embroidering was time-consuming, thought-provoking and considered. There was a sensitivity to and respect for the stories that people had so generously shared.

“From the outset I said that we must stitch the words exactly the way the person had written them and also try to mimic their handwriting stylistically. It meant that we really focussed on the person who had written it originally. As mature people of different background and ages, my students also brought their own associations. It was such a lovely collaborative process – there is a real richness to this project with a lot of different voices mixing together.”

Fragments of a Dress and Defying Expectations are both on display at the Bronte Parsonage Museum until December 31. Bronte.org.uk