Gill Crawshaw is on a mission to raise the profile of disabled artists, disability arts and access to cultural events in Leeds, and to spark more discussions across the city. With a degree in textile design and a background in disability activism and in the disabled people’s movement, Gill is organising her second exhibition for disabled artists in Leeds this year.

After the success of last years exhibition The Reality of Small Differences at Inkwell and Union 105, Gill’s latest venture will be curating an exhibition of over 18 artists and groups from Leeds, West Yorkshire and nationally.

Shoddy is the name for new cloth made from woolen waste and recycled fabric. This original meaning is now largely unknown, and the word has come to mean of inferior quality, shabby or broken-down. This is the starting point for a project by disabled artists working with woolen or other yarns and fabrics, or recycled and reused textile materials.

We are challenging ideas that disabled people are second-rate. Instead, we think that “shoddy” could be used to describe the government’s treatment of disabled people, with cuts to welfare benefits and public services.

Shoddy Exhibition

Thursday 7th April – Sat 16th April. Open every day (apart from Sunday) 12 – 7 pm.

Launch event Wednesday 6th April, 6-8pm.
There will be a BSL interpreter at the launch.

At Live Art Bistro
Regent Street , Leeds, LS2 7QA (opposite Maplins)

More information: https://shoddyexhibition.wordpress.com/