A new exhibition from Maccreate, The Women's Line, opens at the Silk Museum and Macclesfield Library as we celebrate Heritage Open Day

The Women's Line is a new exhibition that explores the female line in ancestry through art. It has been co-ordinated by Maccreate and led by Tyra Till.

Tyra put a call out to women in the Macclesfield area to participate in artist-led workshops that were inspired by their ancestors. They will present their female line artistically through highly personalised mixed media portraits and memories.

The project has allowed women from the region to explore their family tree and then respond to it artistically. Everyone who has participated, will have their contribution mounted on a sheet of A1 paper which will be hung with gold-coloured pegs on a beautiful silk cord, like a washing line. The silk is hand spun with raw silk imported to Macclesfield by local firm Gaddums.

Denise at work.

The exhibition is the culmination of the project, which has taken place throughout the summer with regular workshops held in the Silk Museum and Art Space.

Tyra says: "This is a collaborative artwork that has involved women, about a third of whom are professional artists, from Macclesfield. It is a wonderful way to explore ancestry and find things out in your family tree and then to celebrate those connections through art. The women's line is often overlooked due to patriarchal norms in society. The women have enjoyed meeting each other and sharing stories of their family life and background, exploring similarities."

The Women's Line project has encouraged women to document and research their family tree, with a focus on the women's line of their family, for future generations, and allowed people to express themselves creatively – even if they have had no experience of doing this previously.

One of the participants Denise McKnight from Macclesfield has been involved. Denise's mother, Lucie Baud was Swiss and came over to Macclesfield as an Au Pair to learn English. Her ambition was to work in Paris in haute couture and she needed to learn English to do this.

The exhibition will also be at Macclesfield Library on Jordangate.

Her mother attended a tea party at the YWCA in Macclesfield and met her soon to be husband and Denise's father – Derek Meakin. The couple dated and he proposed to her in a field in Macclesfield. As part of her research Denise has discovered a preserved ear of wheat from the field.

Denise says: "I have been researching the women's line on both sides of my family. My father was from Macclesfield and was a journalist. His female relatives included a silk weaver and someone who hemmed silk handkerchiefs. My grandmother was a florist who had a shop on Cross Street.

"I think it is important to show that these women led busy lives and many of them worked. There is often a misunderstanding that they were all sat at home knitting. I'm including photographs and flowers in my artwork and a newspaper clipping of the announcement of the wedding of my father and my mother.

"It isn't always easy to research the women's line of your family tree as there was never very much information about women in the census, other than their inclusion as a 'wife' although more information was available in the later ones."

The Silk Museum is located on Park Lane. (Image - Macclesfield Nub News)

The final exhibition will be shown at The Silk Museum and Macclesfield Library.

It will open at the Museum from September 6 and will run until October 5. The Museum is open Wednesday to Saturday from 10 until 4 and on the last Sunday of the month.

Director of Silk Museum Emma Anderson says: "We're really looking forward to hosting this exhibition. It is a wonderful way to explore Macclesfield's heritage, through the people of the town. We will be celebrating Heritage Open Days as the exhibition launches. Do come along and visit us, explore the incredible history of Macclesfield and how it made a name for itself internationally as a global centre for silk."

There will be a special event at the museum as part of the exhibition, held on September 14 from 2-4pm with musical performances and a sound piece specially made by artist and participant Leanne Cunningham.

The exhibition at Macclesfield Library will open on September 1 until September 30 and is open during library hours.

Maccreate aims to build creative community collaboration opportunities for high quality art projects in Macclesfield, supporting the growth of the town's reputation for art, culture, and heritage. This project was made possible thanks to UK Shared Prosperity Fund Levelling Up Funding from Cheshire East Council.

To read about other cultural causes in Macclesfield that also received a share of this fund, please click HERE.

Another exhibition at The Silk Museum right now, regards Macclesfield's long history with football. Please click HERE to read that article.