Planning for 2025 - an update
Hello, friends and collaborators!
We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who responded to the speculative call for proposals circulated through our mailing list this past summer. As always, we were delighted by the thoughtful and diverse ideas submitted, particularly from artists and makers in Northern Ireland and across the UK.
While 2025 plans are still in the early stages and nothing is set in stone, we are still open to hearing from you—especially if you represent a venue, heritage or cultural organization, community group, or educational institution. We're eager to discuss potential partnerships and programming ideas, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to collaborate.
Below, you’ll find our working themes and provisional dates for 2025. For those interested, feel free to reach out via email linenbiennale@gmail.com —we’d love to hear your thoughts!
We are incredibly grateful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for their generous support during our 2023 reset year. Thanks to their backing, we were able to achieve so much: over 100 events involving 50 different partners and more than 100 individual artists, speakers, makers, and facilitators.
As we move forward, we recognize that Heritage Fund support was a unique opportunity and won’t be available twice. Now, we're focusing on turning our collective hopes and ideas into tangible resources (i.e., securing new funding). Collaboration has always been at the heart of our success, and it remains essential as we plan for 2025 and beyond.
Our evaluations from 2018 and 2023 both recommend shifting towards a more focused, smaller-scale programme. We are currently exploring what is possible and sustainable—both thematically and geographically—as we shape the future of the biennale.
Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to collaborating with you to bring these exciting plans to life.
Warm wishes
Meadhbh
on behlaf of the Linen Biennale Team
Theme for 2025: "Regroup & React"
For the Linen Biennale Northern Ireland 2025, our theme is "Regroup & React". After two successful festivals celebrating the rich heritage of linen, the 2025 Biennale will shift its focus towards the contemporary. We are particularly interested in projects that explore the intersection of past and future, blending craft and technology, and emphasizing the critical link between sustainability and creativity. Whether through art, design, or innovation, we invite you to engage with flax and linen in a way that responds to today's world as well as leanring from yesterdays.
Provisional Programme Dates
Mark your calendars for late August to early October 2025 .
The Linen Biennale Flags... they will wave again in 2025. (photo credit: Neal Campbell)
