Town of Culture 2028

Nailsworth – Town of Culture 2028?

Or Salon des Refusés …?

We’re thrilled to be leading the partnership for Nailsworth’s bid. The full list of applicants has now been revealed and it’s fantastic to see so many towns with hefty appetites for culture!

Stay tuned for the results at the end of July…

Two centuries ago, the hills around Nailsworth echoed with the noise of the Industrial Revolution. Textile mills transformed the valley, bringing new technology, new wealth and new anxieties. Mechanisation threatened traditional livelihoods and triggered fierce resistance. Today, a new revolution is unfolding as Artificial intelligence begins to reshape society. And once again, young people are asking the same questions their predecessors faced – what does this mean for our future?

Nailsworth Town of Culture 2028 will place these two moments of transformation in dialogue …

The Nailsworth Partners

Nailsworth Town Council
Love Nailsworth
Canon Young People Programme
Institute of Social Innovation and Impact
Luminance Digital Marketing

Our Postcard

Applicants were invited to submit a postcard, we created one that indicates the importance of the archive to our offering. But photography lies at the heart of the programme, as both research method and creative practice. Our postcard is shown above.

The text on the back of the card reads:

Hello! Greetings from Nailsworth! Our room marked with a cross. It hasn’t stopped raining since we arrived, but we’ve found a lovely café. Wish you were here to share our exciting find – jewels from the local archives. But why do civic archives follow convention when it comes to categorising the pictures? I mean, wouldn’t it be much more interesting if we had categories like “men standing around”? Well, if they win Town of Culture, that’s just one of the projects planned for their youth programme. Fingers crossed. With Love x