Curated by Lou Stoppard and Adam Murray, North: Fashioning Identity covers work from the forties to the present day: photographs, artworks and fashion collections in which the style, ideas and tropes of England's northern region are distilled. We sat down with them to discuss how the exhibition was put together, national divisions, and Northern motifs.
The exhibition mines the work of contemporary, internationally acclaimed design from the likes of Raf Simons and Virgil Abloh and places it alongside works from native Brits like Alice Hawkins and Jamie Hawksworth, photographers whose featured work focuses their lenses on challenging the northern stereotype (and bus stations).
It’s this mix of artists who have touched the North, and those who’s work is influenced those artists and the themes they extract. It poses questions about notion of individuality and place, and the creative community’s ever-present dialogue with appropriation.
Watch the interview for exclusive insight into the exhibition from Lou and Adam, and catch North: Fashioning Identity at The Civic, Barnsley from 14 September – 21 December.
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