Main Gallery
Unwavering Beauty
4th – 8th August
This exhibition is the culmination of a series of workshops where participants explored personal experiences of ageing and beauty standards. Using pre-loved swimsuits as their canvas, each participant created a unique piece that serves as a bold act of resistance and self-expression.
These powerful works challenge the societal pressure to remain youthful, confront the invisibility often experienced by older women, and push back against patriarchal beauty norms. The exhibition offers an opportunity to engage with the final creations, hear directly from some of the contributors, and reflect on the themes explored during the project.
Create’s gallery space is available to hire for events and exhibitions. The large, open plan space measures approximately 12 x 8 metres and has a flexible arrangement of partitions, allowing the choice of a large open area or more discrete zones.
Email create.reception@bristol.gov.uk for details or come in and speak to the team.
Cafe Gallery
7th July to 30th September
I’m Having a Grate Time
Rosalind Jane is a Bristol-based illustrator working with scissors and paper to create bold and vibrant collages. This series, entitled ‘I’m Having a Grate Time’ features work inspired by the rural town of Hualien in Taiwan. Each collage is arranged around a different window grate (such grates adorn every window in Taiwan) and goes on to give a glimpse into different aspects of local life, flora, and fauna.
Instagram: @genki.club
Regular Activity
Clay at Create
Think Global: Act Avonmouth
A short film about the local issues facing Avonmouth residents and their relationship with the industrial environment. The film was produced by Black Bark Films as part of the Think Global: Act Local exhibition at M Shed in 2022.
Retirement Reloaded
An interactive book of poems centred around ageing. The works look at transition and change, invisibility and pivotal life moments, reflecting the creative explorations that took place in a series of workshops spanning the joy, pain, wisdom and lived experience of the women taking part.
Re-Cyborgs
The cyborgs have now moved on, but you can still watch Re-Cyborg – The Art of Waste! to find out more about them.
‘The UK discards nearly a million tonnes of textiles every year ‘ (WRAP)
This exploration of some of the aspects of textile sustainability consists of two parts. Firstly the Create Centre hosts a permanent exhibition of information about textile sustainability, including advice, explanations, and facts and figures. This exhibition is open during Create opening hours. The second part is the practical activity days that take place on most Wednesdays from mid morning to mid afternoon. Here the exhibition is extended to include examples of domestic items made from fabrics that would otherwise have been sent to landfill. In addition, such items as cushions, tea cosies, table mats and many other items are being made on the spot, with the intention of encouraging visitors to start or continue their own work.
FABRICation was run by Mike Timmins, who unfortunately passed away earlier this year.
Transformabin
As part of Bristol’s 2015 Green Capital celebrations, 14 unique community inspired projects were commissioned for each of it’s Neighbourhood Partnerships. Mufti Games with Baggator Young People’s Project successfully pitched to Ashley, Lawrence Hill and Easton Partnership to create a fun project highlighting issues relating to household waste, fly-tipping, and recycling in the local area.
From this the Transformabin was created; a communal bin converted into a playable games station. The simple labyrinth style game highlights the effects that waste has on our city, combining fun and imagination with a positive envorimental message.
The Transformbin is a permanent fixture at Create and can be found in our gallery,
Monday to Friday, 9-5pm.