A banner made during a workshop at West Dean College of Arts and Conservation is currently on exhibition as part of the British Textile Biennial 2019. Banner Culture presents a retrospective history of protest in the UK, from traditional processional banners from heritage collections to contemporary DIY messages from local campaign groups. The exhibition is open in the iconic Brierfield Mill, Lancashire, from 3 October until 3 November 2019 and is created in partnership with Mid Pennine Arts and Pendle Radicals.

The exhibition features contributions from some outstanding banner artists including : Durham Bannermakers, who keep alive the traditions of the miners' groups; Thalia Campbell, whose work captured the unbreakable resolve of Greenham women; Ed Hall, celebrated for his collaborations with Jeremy Deller; Peter Carney who made heartbreaking memorials for the 89 lost at Hillsborough, and the Peace Museum in Bradford who have shared a precious collection that brings so much recent history to life. Jill Laudet, who graduated with the Master of Fine Art from West Dean in 2016, is also exhibiting at the exhibition with banners that assert the social and political importance of, and threat to, public space.

The West Dean workshop took place ahead of Processions 2018, a mass participation artwork that saw thousands of women marching through the streets of Belfast, Edinburgh, Cardiff and London to mark the centenary of Women's Suffrage in the UK. Participants were invited to make banners that engaged, provoked, and expressed the ideas, concerns and hopes of women in the 21st century.

Workshop participants and banner makers included staff and students from West Dean College and the University of Chichester: Sarah Hughes, Sarah Cliff, Jill Laudet, Cherie Lubbock, Rachel Johnston, Rosemary Marley, Maud Violet Boothby.

Find out more by visiting the Biennial website or following their activity @britishtextilebiennial