Dare to Dream

Be a part of a monumental artwork celebrating Derbyshire’s textiles heritage.

Inspired by Derbyshire’s history of innovation, Dare to Dream invites everyone from across the county (and beyond!) to create new flags embodying hope, aspiration and radical thinking.

This is our chance to discover Derbyshire’s textiles heritage, create a monumental artwork together, and dream of a better future through making.

Using old, unwanted fabrics and found materials, we invite you to make powerful statements of possibility using flags, garments or banners. How can we change things for the better? What do you dream will be different?

This is our chance to look back at Derbyshire’s proud history of invention, and imagine how we could do things differently going forwards. Derbyshire was first to harness the power of water in its mills and become a global hub for textile production. But we now know that this innovation had unintended consequences – including rising consumerism and environmental destruction.

So, using reclaimed and repurposed materials, we will share ideas for how things might change, weaving our hopes and dreams into thousands of flags representing a brighter future for Derbyshire.

Alex Murphy, Derbyshire resident and recent contestant on the BBC’s The Great British Sewing Bee, is personally inviting you to take part – whether you are an individual, community group, artist or business, you can get involved from anywhere in the county.