A co-commission by the National Festival of Making and British Textile Biennial, Breathing Colour by Margo Selby will be on display at the 2025 British Textile Biennial.

Created during Margo Selby’s Art in Manufacturing residency with Standfast & Barracks, the work premiered at the 2024 National Festival of Making, and is a celebratory textile installation, immersive in colour, form and sound, joyful and uplifting. Located in the stunning Ashton Memorial, an Edwardian baroque folly in Lancaster, the site-responsive textile sculpture evokes the movement of cloth throughout the factory, travelling in waves and folds through the machinery.

This rise and fall reflects a respiratory waveform, a deep breath in and out again; ‘Breathing Colour’ the very nature of the workforce at Standfast & Barracks which aligns so closely with the work of Margo Selby Studio.

Find out more about this Art in Manufacturing residency here.
Explore the full BTB programme here.

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Exhibition Opening Times 

Thu 16 – Sun 19 Oct 2025, 10am – 5pm*
Ashton Memorial, Williamson Park, Williamson Road, Lancaster LA1 3QA

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Performance: The Morecambe Brass Band

Accompanying this exhibition will be a performance by the Morecambe Brass Band. The performance is free and will take place at the Ashton Memorial on Sun 19 Oct, 1.30 – 3.30pm.

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The Future of Colour: Panel Discussion

Taking place in the iconic Ashton Memorial on Fri 17 Oct, 10am – 12.30pm, we invite you to join us and a panel of experts to explore the future of colour.

Margo Selby will talk about her artwork and the impact it has had on her practice and approach to colour. She will be joined by a panel of academic and industry experts whose research and innovative approaches signal new futures for the production and application of sustainable dyes in the hope we can replicate the vibrant colours found in nature without further endangering the planet.

This is a free but limited capacity ticketed event, please book through the link below.

The Future of Colour weekend is presented in partnership with Conversations in Creativity.

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Origami Workshops with Sharon Brown

British Textile Biennial are hosting a colourful origami butterfly workshop with artist Sharon Brown, taking inspiration from Breathing Colour.

Select from a kaleidoscope of colours to fold paper into a beautiful origami butterfly. Whether you make one butterfly or a whole flutter you will have the opportunity to explore working with colour, pattern and simple folding techniques.

Suitable for ages 8+. All materials are provided, and whilst these free drop-in workshops are suitable for ages 8 and above some supervision may be required.

Workshops will take place on 18 & 19 Oct, 11am – 3pm. Visit the BTB website for more information.

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About Margo Selby

Margo Selby is a British textile artist and designer of woven textiles working with colour and geometric form. Her practice as a weaver is at the heart of all of the studio projects. Selby has established an expansive approach to working in textiles and, throughout her work, explores the relationship between man and machine, hand and industry, craft and technology.

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About British Textile Biennial

British Textile Biennial (BTB) is a free festival of contemporary art, commissioning artists and designers from all over the world to make work inspired by the context and legacy of the textile industry in East Lancashire and its global impact, often in the places that were created by it.

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About Art in Manufacturing

Art in Manufacturing is the headline commissioning programme of the National Festival of Making, pairing artists with some of the UK’s leading manufacturers. Conceived as a unique platform for artists to develop their practice and an opportunity to create a meaningful dialogue between artists and the industrial workforce, the commissioning programme explores the social and cultural fabric of place.

In 2025, Art in Manufacturing was shortlisted for the Global Arts Prize.