Exhibition:The Community Shawl Project - connecting the stories of our communities

Artist and community facilitator Emma Bevan founded the Project as a response to working with Kirstie MacLeod and The Red Dress. The exhibition is part of a series of exhibitions, talks and workshops to highlight the struggles and the narratives of women, and to offer a platform for our voices. Over 120 participants signed up to create a fabric square with an element of red. Each piece of beautiful work is intricate and unique, telling its own story - symbols of love and connection.

In searching for the most appropriate material on which to stitch these squares, Emma’s mother donated her grandmother’s cape, worn as Sister of the hospital wards, including Pen Y Fal in Abergavenny. “For the cape to become an integral part of the Shawl is so wonderful, and I know my grandmother would be so proud to be part of this community project; the cape adds another level of provenance and a strong foundation for the Community Shawl. The Project has evolved so quickly, and I am delighted by the wonderful community that has formed along the way. I am thrilled to be able to bring the Shawl to the iconic National Wool Museum for November 2025, and I am looking forward to running workshops during the exhibition. The Community Shawl is a project acknowledging and highlighting communities’ and women's histories, experiences, and stories.”

Emma Bevan is a visual artist, working with both clay and textiles, whose work explores healing modalities in relation to pivotal moments in both her narrative and those of her communities.