Sarah-Joy Ford: Guest Lecture (Queer: Then & Now)

Join us for an inspiring talk by Sarah-Joy Ford, an artist, researcher, and lecturer at Manchester School of Art whose work explores queer histories, archives, and storytelling through textiles. Ford’s practice brings together embroidery, quilting, digital design, and traditional craft techniques to reimagine LGBTQ+ narratives and feminist histories.

Her richly detailed quilts and textile works serve as both personal and political acts, celebrating love, resilience, and resistance within queer communities. By stitching together fragments of history—often drawn from archival sources—Ford’s work engages with themes of lesbian identity, desire, censorship, and queer kinship.

In this lecture, Ford will discuss her creative practice and how quilting serves as a powerful medium for storytelling, protest, and preservation. She will share insights from her ongoing research, which examines the intersection of textiles, activism, and LGBTQ+ heritage, and reflect on how craft-based practices can foster community, visibility, and connection.

Other Lectures in the Series

Wednesday 12 February | Brockington Building, U020
Clare Barlow, curator of Queer British Art at Tate Britain, exploring LGBT+ histories in art and museums.

Wednesday 19 February | Design School, 017
Pip Doran (A.K.A. Sister Sister), drag performer and artist, on queer identity, performance, and self-expression.

Queer: Then & Now – Exhibition

The LGBT+ Staff Network and the School of Design & Creative Arts proudly present Queer: Then & Now, an exhibition exploring evolving narratives within the LGBT+ community. Showcasing work created or lent by members of the Loughborough community, the exhibition will be open weekdays from 12pm–2pm, 10–28 February (no booking required).