exhibitions
Caren Garfen’s work engages with the story of women’s handwork in the home, where feminine stitch signified a well-bred and socially advantaged environment. Evidence of her time spent on hand sewing has changed in its significance; careful stitches are transformed from a signifier of submission and routine labour to a political statement. Eve Ropek, curator of The Dartboard for Witches exhibition
2025
UK
1 October 2024 - 31 January 2025
Fabricated? Solo Exhibition, London
25 February - 2 March
The Broderers’ Exhibition: The Art of Embroidery, Bankside Gallery, London
Europe
29 March - May 2025
Community, 13th Baltic Mini Textiles, Gdynia City Museum, Poland
international
31 January 2025 - mid 2026
International Art Textiles Biennale 2025, Touring Exhibition, Australia
East Gippsland Art Gallery, Victoria
Emu Park Gallery, Queensland
Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Queensland
Kyogle Gallery, New South Wales
Moona Art Centre, Hobart, Tasmania
Fabrik, Stirling, South Australia
2024
UK
1 October 2024 - 31 January 2025
Fabricated? Solo Exhibition, London
30 March - 8 July
Tailored, The 62 Group of Textile Artists, Hub, Lincolnshire
Europe
21 June - 31 August
Tolerance Limit, VIII International Triennial of Textile Arts 2024, Szombathely Gallery, Hungary
15 - 24 November
Totgeliebt, Semmelweisklinik Centre for Arts and Culture, Vienna, Austria
23 November - 15 December Flash, 23rd International Mini Textile Exhibition, Bratislava, Slovakia
international
1 November - 31 December
Material Flux, Surface Design Association, USA, online exhibition
2023
UK
13 May - 2 July
Tailored, 62 Group, Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, Pudsey, West Yorkshire
23 May - 2 September
HelloGoodbye : myredthread, Craft Study Centre, University of the Creative Arts, Farnham, Surrey
15 June onwards
Summer ex-Hibition, @haus_a_rest, Issue 38, online
5 - 8 October
30 Years of Embroiderers’ Guild Graduate & Scholar Showcase, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London
16 - 19 November
30 Years of Embroiderers’ Guild Graduate & Scholar Showcase, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Convention Centre, Harrogate
Europe
16 June - 17 September
Quo Vadis? The 7th International Riga Textile and Fibre Art Triennial, Tradition and Innovation, Riga, Latvia
20 November - 11 December
Connecting, Bulgarian Triennial of Mini Textiles, Sofia, Bulgaria
international
2022
UK
11 January onwards
Cultivate presents Deflect, A Group Exhibition, online at organthing.com (p.103-107)
15 January - 26 February
Conversations: People, Places, Materials, Objects, St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery, New Street, Lymington, Hampshire
29 January - 28 February
It’s My Life, The House of Smalls, online exhibition :LINK
22 - 27 February
The Broderers’ Exhibition: The Art of Embroidery, Bankside Gallery, London
22 February onwards
Cultivate presents Book, A Group Exhibition, online at organthing.com (p.112-113)
6 March onwards
Book (A Companion Exhibition), online at organthing.com (p.32)
18 - 21 August
The Fine Art Textiles Award Gallery, The Festival of Quilts, NEC, Birmingham
6 - 9 October
The 62 Group @60: Essence Gallery and The Fine Art Textiles Award Gallery, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London
17 - 20 November
The 62 Group @60: Essence Gallery and The Fine Art Textiles Award Gallery, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Convention Centre, Harrogate
EUROPE
3 May - 11 June
Fairy Tales, Myths and Stories, (Mächen, Mythen und Geschichten), Galerie Handwerk, Munich, Germany
INTERNATIONAL
2021
UK
29 July - 1 August
The Vlieseline Fine Art Textiles Award Gallery 2020, Festival of Quilts, NEC, Birmingham
29 July - 1 August
The Janome Fine Art Textiles Award Gallery 2021, Festival of Quilts, NEC, Birmingham
25 September - 28 November
Connected Cloth: exploring the global nature of textiles, British Textile Biennial, The Whitaker, Rossendale, Lancashire
7 - 10 October
The Vlieseline Fine Art Textiles Award Gallery 2020, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London
7 - 10 October
The Janome Fine Art Textiles Award Gallery 2021, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London
6 November - 6 December
Mirror Mirror on the Wall, The House of Smalls, online exhibition :LINK
18 - 21 November
The Janome Fine Art Textiles Award Gallery 2021, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Harrogate Convention Centre, Yorkshire
EUROPE
INTERNATIONAL
22 January - 3 March
Art Textile Biennale 2020, East Gippsland Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia
29 March - 30 May
Art Textile Biennale 2020, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Queensland, Australia
11 June - 11 July
Art Textile Biennale 2020, Barometer Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales. Australia
27 June - 5 September
Internationale d’Art Miniature, Gallerie Louise-Carrier, Quebec, Canada
2020
UK
Until 31 January
Nothing Less! 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage, Austrian Cultural Forum, London
Until 19 April
The Mr X Stitch Guide to Cross Stitch, British Textile Biennial, Towneley Hall Museum, Burnley, Lancashire
Until 29 February
Ctrl/Shift, 62 Group of Textile Artists, 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire
18 May - 13 June (postponed)
What’s Going On Upstairs, Gray MCA Gallery, Bath, Somerset
17 August - 20 September
The Diana Springall Collection, The Sunbury Embroidery Gallery, The Walled Garden, Sunbury-on-Thames
EUROPE
INTERNATIONAL
Until 10 March
UDHR Quilt Project, Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House, Canberra, Australia
2019
UK
2 February - 22 April
Ctrl/Shift, 62 Group of Textile Artists, The National Centre for Craft & Design, Sleaford, Lincolnshire
20 - 22 March
14th International London Eating Disorder Conference, QEII Centre, Westminster, London
29 April
Image and Narrative: Illness, Recovery, Change Conference, The University of Nottingham
2 Jul - 8 September
The Women’s Library, London School of Economics and Political Science, London
20 Jul - 15 September
Construct, 62 Group of Textile Artists, Sunny Bank Mills Gallery, Pudsey, West Yorkshire
1 - 4 August
The Vlieseline Fine Art Textiles Award Gallery, Festival of Quilts, NEC, Birmingham, West Midlands
4 September
East Midlands Mental Health Service Innovators Conference 2019, First Steps, University of Derby
3 October 2019 - 29 February 2020
The Mr X Stitch Guide to Cross Stitch, British Textile Biennial, Towneley Hall Museum, Burnley, Lancashire
10 - 13 October
The Vlieseline Fine Art Textiles Award Gallery, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London
10 October 2019 - 31 January 2020
Nothing Less! 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage, Austrian Cultural Forum, London
28 November - 1 December
The Vlieseline Fine Art Textiles Award Gallery, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Harrogate Convention Centre, Harrogate, Yorkshire
14 December 2019 - 29 February 2020
Ctrl/Shift, 62 Group of Textile Artists, 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire
EUROPE
7 - 10 November
The Vlieseline Fine Art Textiles Award Gallery, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Simmonscourt, RDS, Dublin, Ireland
2018
UK
10 March - 30 December
Jane Austen Community Quilt Project, Jane Austen House Museum, Chawton, Hampshire
28 - 29 March
BEAT Eating Disorder International Conference, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London
21 July - 9 September
Ctrl/Shift, 62 Group of Textile Artists, Mac Birmingham, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, West Midlands
26 July - 1 September
Artsdepot Open, Apthorp Gallery, London
9 - 12 August
Jane Austen Community Quilt Project, Festival of Quilts, NEC, Birmingham, West Midlands
1 September - 11 November
The Mr X Stitch Guide to Cross Stitch, Standen House, East Grinstead, West Sussex
6 October - 17 November
Suffrage, Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre, Cwmbran, South Wales
11 - 14 October
What’s Going On Upstairs, Solo Gallery, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London
22 - 25 November
What’s Going On Upstairs, Solo Gallery, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Harrogate Convention Centre, Harrogate, Yorkshire
EUROPE
8 - 11 November
What’s Going On Upstairs, Solo Gallery, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Simmonscourt, RDS, Dublin, Ireland
INTERNATIONAL
6 - 10 March
UDHR Quilt Project, Kings ARI Art Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
25 October 2018 - June 2019
UDHR Quilt Project, Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House, Canberra, Australia
2017
UK
14 - 15 October
Desperate Artwives, Feminism in London Conference (FiLiA) 2017, Institute of Education, University of London
12 - 13 July
250 Years Conference, Hand & Lock, Bishopsgate Institute, London
27 - 30 April
Making Space, 62 Group of Textile Artists, Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland
22 - 24 March
13th International London Eating Disorder Conference, Institute of Education, University of London
2 - 5 March
Making Space, 62 Group of Textile Artists, The Knitting and Stitching Show, Olympia, London
EUROPE
Until 15 January
Textile Art of Today, Touring Exhibition, Slovak Museum, Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic
INTERNATIONAL
18 June - 3 September
Internationale d'Art Miniature, Gallerie Louise-Carrier, Quebec, Canada
2016
UK
Oct - Nov
Anne Kelly - Textile Nature, The Knitting & Stitching Shows, London, Dublin & Harrogate
Jul - Sep
Wit of the Stitch, Ruthin Craft Centre, Denbighshire, North Wales
Jun - Sep
Making Space, 62 Group of Textile Artists, Macclesfield Silk Museum, Cheshire
Jun - Aug
A Group Gathering, Unit Twelve Gallery, Stafford, Staffordshire
Apr - May
A Group Gathering: Daphne's Glove, Herefordshire Archive & Records Centre, Hereford
Europe
Oct
Textile Art of Today, Touring Exhibition, Romer Floris Art & History Museum, Gyor, Hungary
May - Aug
Textile Art of Today, Touring Exhibition, Historical Museum, Bielsko-Biala, Poland
Feb - Mar
Textile Art of Today, Touring Exhibition, Tatra Gallery, Poprad, Slovakia
INTERNATIONAL
Oct - Nov
World of Threads Festival, Corridor Galleries, Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre, Ontario, Canada
Jun - Aug
Transgressing Traditions, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, New York, USA
2015
UK
Sep - Oct
A Group Gathering: Daphne's Glove, The Weavers Gallery, Ledbury, Herefordshire
Jul - Sep
Abode, Walford Mill Crafts, Wimborne, Dorset
Jul
The Diana Springall Collection, Art in Action, Waterperry, Oxford
Jun
A Stitch in Time: a Day of Embroidery, British Library, London
Mar - May
62 Group Now, Upfront Gallery, Penrith, Cumbria
Jan - Feb
On My Mother's Knee, Gwynedd Museum & Art Gallery, Bangor, North Wales
Feb onwards
People and Progress: A History of Salts Mill, Salts Mill, Saltaire, West Yorkshire
Europe
Sep - Dec
Textile Art of Today, Slovak National Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia
INTERNATIONAL
May - Aug
FEAST: pleasure + hunger + ritual, Lexington Art League, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
2014
uK
Nov
She Was Cooking Something Up, Solo Gallery, The Knitting & Stitching Show, International Centre, Harrogate, Yorkshire
Oct
She Was Cooking Something Up, Solo Gallery, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London
Apr - Jul
Construct, Ruthin Craft Centre, Denbighshire, North Wales
Apr - Jun
Selected, Newark Park National Trust Property, Stroud International Textiles, Gloucestershire
Nov 2013 - Jan 2014
On My Mother's Knee, Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre, South East Wales
INTERNATIONAL
Dec 2015 - Jan 2014
British Textiles Exhibition, 62 @ 50, SHOWA Women's University, Tokyo, Japan
2013
UK
EUROPE
INTERNATIONAL
Aug - Nov
Cloth and Memory 2, Salts Mill, Saltaire, West Yorkshire
Jun - Aug
Featured Artist, The Beetroot Tree, Draycott, Derbyshire
Jun - Aug
The Button Project, Macclesfield Silk Museum, The Heritage Centre, Cheshire
Jun - Jul
Small Talk, 62 Group of Textile Artists, Constance Howard Research Centre, Goldsmith College, London
Feb
Hand Stitch Perspectives Book Tour, L'Aguille en Fete, Parc des Expositions de la Port de Versailles, Paris, France
Jun- Sep
Internationale d'Art Miniature, Galerie Louise-Carrier, Quebec, Canada
2012
UK
Nov
62 Group Package Tour, & Hand Stitch Perspectives Book Launch, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Harrogate
Oct
Made London, One Marylebone, London
Oct
62 Group Package Tour, & Hand Stitch Perspectives Book Launch, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London
Jul - Sep
Drawn to Craft, Bilston Craft Centre,Wolverhampton
Jul - Aug
62 @ 50, Holden Gallery, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester
Jun
AA2A Exhibition, Todd Fine Art Studios, University of Hertfordshire
Jun - Aug
Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, Piccadilly, London
Jan - May
Interventions, Platt Hall, Gallery of Costume, Manchester
EUROPE
Nov
62 Group Package Tour, & Hand Stitch Perspectives Book Launch, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Dublin, Ireland
Oct - Nov
Nadelwerke (Needle Works), Galerie Handwerk, Munich, Germany
2011
UK
Dec
Celebrity Paws, Chris Beetles Gallery, St James's, London
Jul - Sep
Artsdepot Open, Apthorp Gallery, London
May
Designer Maker Market, Clerkenwell Design Week, St John's Square, London
Jan - Apr
At a Tangent, 62 Group of Textile Artists, Gallery Oldham, Cultural Quarter, Oldham, Greater Manchester
Jan
Designer Crafts, The Mall Galleries, London
EUROPE
Sep
Home Autour du Monde, Paris, France
Jun
5th International Exhibition of Mini Textile Art, Kherson, Ukraine
2010
UK
Jan
Origin, Old Spitalfields Market, London
Jul - Sep
The Dartboard for Witches, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth University, Wales
Jul - Aug
Bending More Lines, 62 Group of Textile Artists, Collins Gallery, University of Strathclyde, Scotland
Mar - Jul
Quilts 1700 - 2010, V&A Museum, London
EUROPE
Apr - May
Bending More Lines, 62 Group of Textile Artists, Museum Rijswijk, Netherlands
2009
UK
Nov
Art of the Stitch, The Knitting & Stitching Show, International Centre, Harrogate
Oct
Art of the Stitch, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London
Jul - Sep
Bending More Lines, 62 Group of Textile Artists, Hub, Sleaford, Lincolnshire
Jun
AA2A Exhibition, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield
Jan
Designer Crafts, The Mall Galleries, London
EUROPE
Jan - Mar
Art of the Stitch, Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, Hungary
2008
UK
Nov
Embroiderers Guild Scholar, The Knitting & Stitching Show, International Centre, Harrogate
Oct
Embroiderers Guild Scholar, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London
Sep
Embroiderers Guild Scholar, The Knitting & Stitching Show, NEC, Birmingham
Jul
One Year On at New Designers, Business Design Centre, London
Mar - Jun
Art of the Stitch, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham
Mar
Graduate Showcase, Stitch & Craft, Oympia, London
Jan
Designer Crafts, Mall Galleries, London
EUROPE
Nov
Embroiderers Guild Scholar, The Knitting & Stitching Show, RDS, Dublin, Ireland
Sep - Dec
Art of the Stitch, Deutsches Textilmuseum, Krefeld, Germany
2007
UK
Nov
Embroiderers Guild Graduate Showcase, The Knitting & Stitching Show, International Centre, Harrogate
Oct
Embroiderers Guild Graduate Showcase, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London
Sep
New Designers Selection, The Gallery @ Oxo, London
Sep
Embroiderers Guild Graduate Showcase, The Knitting & Stitching Show, NEC, Birmingham
Jul
New Designers, Business Design Centre, London
Jun
Degree Show, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield
EUROPE
Nov
Embroiderers Guild Graduate Showcase, The Knitting & Stitching Show, RDS, Dublin, Ireland
2005
UK
May
On the Edge, Courtyard Art Gallery, Hertford, Hertfordshire