About Manchester Tufting Workshops
Alena Ruth (she/they) is a rug tufting specialist based in Salford, Manchester. Working at the intersection of contemporary art and functional décor, their practice explores mental illness, childhood and identity, using tufting as a form of self-therapy. Alena’s work fuses tactility with sentimentality, using softness, texture, and playful imagery to visualise her inner world. By embracing weirdness and whimsy, they create intimate pieces that invite both emotional connection and sensory engagement.
Manchester Tufting Workshops was founded in 2020, with the aim of bringing the art of rug tufting public. Alena and MTW have worked with names such as Blue Peter, Selfridges, Converse, Crocs and more.