BTB25 – Lucy + Jorge Orta: Homo Mondialis

2nd October at 11:00 am
BTB25-Lucy+Jorge-Orta-Homo-Mondialis

Details

Date: 2nd October 2025
Time: 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
Venue: Blackburn Cathedral Crypt

From intricate pieces in embroidery appliqué, to sculpture and immersive video installations, this sweeping survey of the Ortas’ work crosses continents from the Antarctic to the Amazon, reflecting on humanity’s impact and relationship with the planet.

At its centre, is a major new commission, ‘House of Hair’, which reimagines and reconstructs the traditional Bedouin tent.

Using traditional vernacular and state-of-the art digital weaving, this dwelling sculpture imagined by Lucy Orta, is constructed from nine immense patterned tapestry panels woven at the TextielLab, Tilburg.

The tapestries tell the story of a world drastically altered by climate change, merging histories of past-present-future, passing through dense jungles and desert landscapes where scarcity of resources results in conflict, yet from whose ruins emerge alternative forms of life, with new ways of living and being.

Location

This exhibition is in the Crypt at Blackburn Cathedral and entry is directly via Cathedral Square, BB1 1FB, next to Checks & Greys café.


British Textile Biennial (BTB)

The British Textile Biennial (BTB) commissions and presents work inspired by the context and legacy of the textile industry in East Lancashire and its global impact.

This Autumn, BTB25 explores invention and innovation in textile production; through indigenous knowledge to space-age technology. Blackburn Cathedral is delighted to be hosting: Lucy & Jorge Orta – Homo Mondialis.

This survey exhibition of the work of Lucy and Jorge Orta, across continents over thirty years from the Antarctic to the Amazon, reflects on humanity’s impact and relationship with the planet.

This striking installation will occupy the Crypt, inviting us to travel from the South Pole through jungles, deserts and forests to reflect with them. At its centre, is a major new commission, House of Hair, which reimagines and reconstructs the traditional Bedouin tent as a speculative response to nomadic living in the extreme scenario of mass desertification.

For full details and opening times please visit the British Textile Biennial website.

 

 
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