Expanding on collage's dynamic interplay with activism and experimentation, Autograph's upcoming exhibition I Still Dream of Lost Vocabularies considers how artists have used the photographic image as a tool to reimagine or restage fragmented histories.
Inspired by collage practises featured in the exhibition and rooted in artist-educator Nilupa Yasmin's own practice, this free workshop invites students to explore storytelling and personal history through weaving with photographs. With Yasmin's guidance, students will combine archival and personal photographs to create new meaning through making.
After viewing selected works from the exhibition, students will be introduced to the cultural history and significance of weaving, discussing how craft and photography can come together to explore identity and memory.
There will be a practical activity in which students create a woven artwork using a mix of reproductions of photographs from Autograph’s photographic archive collection and a photograph representing themselves. Through combining strips of images and materials, students will produce a personal visual tapestry, weaving new connections between the past, present and future.
Nilupa is an artist and an educator, often working collaboratively with communities.
In her practice, she explores craft histories and materiality within photography and works primarily with a lens-based practise. She is interested in the notion of culture, self-identity, and anthropology. Whilst investigating ideals and traditions that are close to home, she repeatedly draws upon her own identity through gender, religion and her British Bangladeshi culture and heritage.
You can book a workshop for your class on one of the dates below:
Friday 23rd January
Friday 30th January
Friday 6th February
Friday 13th February
Each day, workshops are available at 11:00am - 12:30pm or 1:30 - 3:00pm
Those times don't work? Get in touch! You can request another time on the booking form or contact learning@autograph-abp.co.uk and we'll try to make it happen.
This workshop is now full.
We're here to help if you have any questions, get in touch at learning@autograph-abp.co.uk
10 Oct 2025 - 25 Mar 2026
The featured works investigate how histories can be cut apart and reinscribed, offering new perspectives on the complex experiences of identity and contested narratives.
The second workshop takes place at Autograph's gallery in the heart of Shoreditch, East London. Have a look at our Visit Us page to find out more about getting to the gallery, accessibility and more.
Banner image: Nilupa Yasmin, Grow me a Waterlily [detail], 2017.
Images on page: 1,2,3) Courtesy Nilupa Yasmin. 4) Sabrina Tirvengadum and Mark Allred, Family [detail], 2023. 5) Autograph. Photograph by Kate Elliott.
Autograph is a space to see things differently. Since 1988, we have championed photography that explores issues of race, identity, representation, human rights and social justice, sharing how photographs reflect lived experiences and shape our understanding of ourselves and others.