Exhibition

What if the Dada movement had started in 2020 in lockdown?

Is now a timely moment to resurrect the spirit and essence of Dada? 

To mark the 102nd anniversary of the 1st Dada International Exhibition in Berlin, 31 d/Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent artists staged Dada inspired interventions in 30 museums and galleries across Britain and Northern Ireland on 2 July 2022 

At Towner, Andrea Mindel, a contemporary textile and multi-disciplinary artist based in the UK, carried out their intervention: WAR?! WHAT WAR? - How does one achieve eternal bliss?  Using the traditional embroidery technique of goldwork, they sat at traditional embroidery trestles, embroidering a memorial for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, using their own hair.

Andrea Mindel’s needlework practice confronts themes of social injustice, grief and mourning within the context of climate crisis, illness, disease and genocide. Embroidering with conscience and creating materiality through the repetitive motion of stitch, Andrea’s work pays tribute, memorialising and making beautiful things from difficult narratives.  

The event, with the title We are Invisible We are Visible (WAIWAV), was presented by DASH, the Disabled led visual arts organisation, and was awarded the 2021 Ampersand Award.