Conversations in Creativity: Threads of Memory

Creative Lancashire in association with the BFI National Archive & British Textile Biennial presents:

Threads of Memory

Film screening followed by panel discussion and Q&A

6-8pm Thursday 22 October 2026 (Doors 5.30pm)

Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston PR1 2PP

with

Harris Elliott – Cultural Curator
Jemma Buckley – BFI National Archive
Juliana Kasumu – Filmmaker
Tosin Adeosun – Curator & Fashion Historian (Host)

REGISTER TO CONFIRM YOUR PLACE HERE

Using historical footage from the BFI National Archive, as well as more recent online video works, this exploration of the influences of West African and Caribbean migration on Black British fashion highlights how migration, identity and resilience alongside the ever-expanding style and social exchange via moving image have shaped (and continues to shape) this fashion movement.

This fascinating compilation of archive material will be followed by an expert panel to discuss the themes and ideas explored by Kasumu, and the importance of archival footage in telling and preserving stories for future generations. Alongside Kasumu, contributors include Harris Elliott (Le Tings), Tosin Adeosun (African Style Archive) and Jemma Buckley (BFI National Archive).

About Threads of Memory (Dir: Juliana Kasumu | 2025)

Unravelling the enduring influence of West African and Caribbean cultural memory on Black British fashion, Threads of Memory explores how migration, identity and resilience alongside an ever-expanding style and social exchange via moving image, shaped the evolution of a fashion movement that redefines authenticity and challenges stereotypes (Dur: 17m 50).

"The landscape of Black British fashion is ever-changing. From the unveiling of collections influenced by the motherland at fashion week, tracksuits which were initially popularised in the UK through football culture and Grime, to now becoming a dominant global trend, the influences of African and Caribbean migration on Black British fashion is undeniable. Exploring the impact and journey of this phenomenon, director Juliana Kasumu created Threads of Memory. It highlights how migration, identity and resilience alongside the ever-expanding style and exchange of culture have shaped (and continues to shape) this fashion moment."

The event will take place on Thursday 22 October (6-8pm – Doors 5.30pm) at the recently reimagined Harris Museum & Art Gallery in Preston and coincides with our Black History Month UK programme.

The Threads of Memory screening and panel discussion forms part of the wider Inside the Archive exhibition that will be on display at the Harris Museum & Art Gallery from 23 October – 5 November 2026. Attendees of the screening and panel will have an opportunity to preview the exhibit during the event on 22 October. 

REGISTRATION

The event is free to attend but places are limited. To confirm your place please register via Eventbrite here

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Harris Elliott OBE
Harris Elliott OBE is an international multi-disciplinary visual artist and cultural curator who alchemises beauty and counterculture into narratives; visual poetry that anchors us into the slipstream of popularism with disruptive elegance - specialising in identity and culture. His practice draws on the socio politics of fashion and cultural identities through films, exhibitions, design and style. Over two decades he has shaped a cross-cultural body of work spanning Anglo, Japanese and African Diaspora influence. He is founder of Le Tings, an experiential studio that ignites playful and visual explorations honouring essences of African diaspora narratives. With Andrew Ibi and Jason Jules, Harris launched The Black Orientated Legacy Development Agency (BOLD) as a creative, design development agency working to forge structural and institutional change across the fashion industry and beyond. In 2023 the trio collaborated to curate the landmark Missing Threads Exhibition at Somerset House.
harriselliott.com

Juliana Kasumu

Juliana Kasumu is an artist, filmmaker, and creative producer focused on developing distinct, community-centered stories. Through fragmented, non-linear storytelling, she explores identity, collective memory, and the diasporic experience. Her acclaimed cinematic catalogue includes the award-winning short BABYBANGZ (2021), Losing Joy (2022), and Adura Baba Mi (2024), which premiered at the Camden International Film Festival and was nomination for Best Short Film at the BFI London Film Festival. Her most recent film, Threads of Memory, explores enduring influence of West African and Caribbean cultural memory on Black British fashion. Kasumu's work has been exhibited internationally at institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Whitechapel Gallery. Her installation What Does the Water Taste Like? won the 2021 Aesthetica Emerging Art Prize and was most recently featured in the Aesthetica Art Prize 2026 exhibition at Mercer Art Gallery.
julianakasumu.com

Tosin Adeosun
Tosin Adeosun is a curator, fashion historian, and founder of African Style Archive, a platform dedicated to documenting and sharing histories of African fashion, material and print culture. Her work focuses on archives, photography, and visual culture, with a particular interest in how image-making practices shape collective memory. Through research, exhibitions, writing, an expanding reference library, and public programmes, she explores the intersections of fashion, identity, and the African diaspora. She has also worked across television, museums, and academia - serving as a visual art researcher for numerous projects, contributing to the Africa Fashion exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and curating a digital exhibition with a public programme in partnership with the London College of Fashion. She is currently an Associate Lecturer at London College of Fashion UAL.
tosinadeosun.com

Inside the Archive Exhibition at The Harris: 23 October – 5 November (PREVIEW: 5PM - 22 October)

The BFI National Archive looks after one of the largest and most important collections of film and television in the world. Its teams of experts ensure that the collections are preserved and developed for future generations and made widely accessible to today’s audiences. This multimedia installation enables visitors to explore this work and learn about the people who make it possible. One of the Archive’s most famous collections is Mitchell & Kenyon's Edwardian Britain. These amazing films, lost for at least 80 years, offer something close to time travel. Miraculously discovered in a basement in 1994, the films provide stunning images of ordinary life in late-Victorian and Edwardian Britain. 

As part of the Inside the Archive Exhibition, the BFI National Archive is delighted to bring a selection of these films home to the city in which they were filmed. Capturing factory workers, churchgoers, schoolchildren, sportsmen and spectators across Preston, these relaxed Edwardians laugh, grin and point at the camera – brought back to life, as no painting or photograph ever could.

Inside the Archive is supported by the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery Good Cause Funding. bfi.org.uk

British Textile Biennial
The British Textile Biennial is a festival of contemporary art, commissioning artists and designers from all over the world to make work inspired by the context and legacy of the textile industry in East Lancashire and its global impact, often in the places that were created by it.
britishtextilebiennial.co.uk

Conversations in Creativity
Creative Lancashire's Conversations in Creativity programme is a publication and series of talks and interventions where practitioners from around the world, and across disciplines, explore how creative inspiration informs process. Previous contributors include Lubaina Himid, Halima Cassel, John Puttick, Hemingway Design, Donna Wilson, Nick Park, Keith Brymer Jones, Patrick Grant Lemn Sissay and Jeanette Winterson to name a few. Creative Lancashire and Conversations in Creativity are services provided by Lancashire County Council.