8th March – 27th April 2008

Manchester Metropolitan University has a long and proud history in design education.

Established, as many art and design schools were, in the lee of the Great Exhibition of 1851, it became an important centre for the training of designers for industry and a focal point for design learning that is as strong now as then.

Over the years it has bought state of the art machinery for research and learning. Every now and again the university also purchased plant that had particular value as a learning tool and historic archive.

The Schiffli machine is a grand monster, a joy to walk around, to touch and smell the possibilities for making.

At a time when its future is in doubt, a small number of inspired textiles lecturers, supported by senior managers, have gathered round to show how the machine can be exploited.

Some of the resulting works studiously make use of the repetitive shape-making the Schiffli was designed for. Others draw new purpose from the machine, showing how its mechanical poetry yields unusual and marvellous imagery. See for yourself in the Hub's exhibition.