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Anneka French chats to professors Lesley Millar and Alice Kettle as they introduce their new exhibition

Lise Bjorne Linnert Every Day, hundreds of squares of embroidered bandage.

■ Hot on the heels of their new publication Reading the Thread: Cloth and Communication, professor Lesley Millar MBE and professor Alice Kettle are preparing to launch an exhibition at the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) in Bristol, exploring the book’s themes. Artists featured include Rachel Fallon, Enam Gbewonyo, Shelly Goldsmith, Pippa Hetherington, Kani Kamil, Sabine Kaner, Lise Bjorne Linnert, Susie MacMurray, Alice Maher, Paula Reason, Erin M. Riley and Kari Steihaug. Their work will be shown alongside pieces from the renowned Diana Springall collection. Soft Power – Lives told through textile art will be a large-scale all-female exhibition focusing on storytelling through contemporary and historic textiles. While the book examines textile communication in terms of tradition, fashion, technology, sustainability and ethnography, the exhibition specifically uses artworks and artist’s voices to carry these messages. Millar explains: ‘The exhibition literally did grow out of the themes of the book: the importance of cloth as a carrier of narrative in every way, consciously or otherwise. We felt there was more to be explored once the book was put to bed.’ Millar adds: ‘We thought about voices. How do people make themselves heard? How do they exercise power? We felt the notion of “soft power” applies to cloth and how it has been and continues to be used by women.’