Upcycling Workshop with Delaine Le Bas and Wendy Roby at The Whitworth, Manchester

Upcycling Workshop at The Whitworth, Manchester

The Whitworth in Manchester hosted an upcycling workshop led by artist Delaine Le Bas and textile designer Wendy Roby, bringing together participants to explore experimental approaches to clothing, textiles and material transformation. The workshop formed part of the public programme surrounding Le Bas’s wider exhibition practice, focusing on reuse, storytelling and creative intervention through materials.

Delaine Le Bas and Material Culture in Contemporary Art

Delaine Le Bas is an internationally recognised artist whose work spans installation, performance, textile, sculpture and painting. Her practice is rooted in themes of identity, marginalisation, folklore and lived experience, often expressed through heavily layered material environments that combine fabric, writing, costume and found objects.

In the context of this workshop, her approach to material culture framed clothing and textile as carriers of memory, history and personal narrative, rather than simply functional or disposable objects.

Wendy Roby and Experimental Natural Dye Practice

Wendy Roby’s practice explores natural dye processes, often working with organic materials, food waste and plant-based pigments to create colour and texture. Her approach emphasises sustainability, experimentation and process-led making.

Together with Le Bas, the workshop created a dialogue between textile transformation and material storytelling, encouraging participants to think about how everyday materials can be reworked through artistic intervention.

Upcycling as Artistic and Creative Practice

The workshop focused on upcycling as a creative act rather than a purely sustainability-led process. Participants were encouraged to bring existing garments and transform them through cutting, stitching, painting and layering techniques.

This approach positioned upcycling within contemporary art practice, where reuse becomes a form of expression rather than correction or repair.

Textile Transformation and Experimental Making

Throughout the session, garments were deconstructed and rebuilt in real time, with participants responding intuitively to material, texture and structure. The process encouraged experimentation, with outcomes emerging through making rather than pre-planned design.

This method reflects broader trends in contemporary textile art, where process and material exploration are prioritised over fixed outcomes.

The Whitworth and Contemporary Textile Programming

The Whitworth in Manchester has a strong history of textile-based exhibitions and socially engaged art practice. Its public programme regularly includes workshops, exhibitions and participatory events that connect contemporary artists with audiences through hands-on creative activity.

This workshop extended that tradition by bringing together established artists and emerging practitioners in a shared making environment.

Connection to Delaine Le Bas: Un-Fair-Ground Exhibition

The workshop was linked to Delaine Le Bas: Un-Fair-Ground, an exhibition at The Whitworth exploring identity, belonging, mythology and cultural memory through immersive installation and textile-based work.

The exhibition continues Le Bas’s long-standing use of fabric, costume and assemblage as a way of constructing layered visual environments that carry both personal and political meaning.

Fashion Students and Emerging Practice

A number of participants in the workshop were students from Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute of Fashion, contributing an emerging design perspective to the session. Their involvement added a layer of contemporary fashion education and experimentation to the workshop environment.

This connection between academic fashion practice and contemporary art reflects a wider dialogue between education, craft and experimental design in Manchester.

Upcycling, Sustainability and Contemporary Textile Practice

Upcycling continues to play an increasingly important role in both contemporary art and fashion practice. Within this workshop, sustainability was not treated as a fixed concept but as an open-ended process of transformation, reuse and reinterpretation.

Clothing became a site for experimentation, narrative and material investigation rather than consumption.

Process-Led Workshop Environment

The workshop environment was informal and collaborative, with participants actively engaging with materials, tools and textiles throughout the session. Rather than focusing on finished outcomes, the emphasis remained on process, exploration and shared making.

This allowed for a more intuitive approach to textile transformation and creative decision-making.

Contemporary Craft and Material Storytelling in Manchester

Manchester continues to support a growing network of contemporary craft, textile practice and experimental art education. Workshops like this sit within a broader cultural ecosystem where material practice is increasingly used as a tool for storytelling and artistic research.

Fashion, Art and Interdisciplinary Practice

The intersection between fashion, fine art and textile practice was central to the workshop. By bringing together artists, designers and students, the session created a space where disciplinary boundaries became flexible and open to reinterpretation.

Editorial and Documentary Photography in Manchester

I regularly photograph exhibitions, workshops, artists and cultural events across Manchester, producing editorial and documentary photography for galleries, universities and arts organisations. This workshop forms part of an ongoing body of work focused on contemporary art practice, textile culture and creative process in real working environments.