A major tapestry commissioned by Lincoln to mark the College’s 600th anniversary will go on public display for the first time this autumn, as part of a new exhibition at Guildhall Art Gallery in London.
Designed by Turner Prize-nominated artist Hurvin Anderson and handwoven at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh, the six-metre-wide tapestry will be one of the highlights of Beyond Bayeux: Tapestry Now, which opens on 23 October. The tapestry project was supported by alumni donations, for which we are very grateful, and depicts collegiate and academic life at Lincoln.
Lincoln alumni will also have a special opportunity to see the tapestry during a private College viewing at the Guildhall in October, before the work returns to Lincoln in March 2027 to be installed in the Langford Room.
Beyond Bayeux: Tapestry Now
Beyond Bayeux: Tapestry Now brings together more than 20 tapestries created by Dovecot Studios in collaboration with leading artists, including David Hockney, Yinka Shonibare, Tania Kovats, Alberta Whittle and Rachel Maclean. Lincoln’s tapestry is one of two major new commissions featured in the exhibition.
The exhibition looks at tapestry as a contemporary art form and at the relationship between artists and Dovecot’s specialist weavers, who interpret designs in wool through decisions about colour, texture and technique. It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reflect on tapestry’s past and shape its future
The exhibition complements the arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in the UK for the exhibition at the British Museum.
Alongside Lincoln’s commission will be works spanning several decades of Dovecot’s collaborations with artists. These include a 1970 tapestry based on David Hockney’s Play within a Play, as well as more recent collaborations with Yinka Shonibare, Alberta Whittle and Rachel Maclean.
Celia Joicey, Dovecot Studios Director, said, “This exhibition is an opportunity to showcase tapestry as not only one of the world's oldest fine art mediums, but also one that has a powerful connection to contemporary artists.”
About the Lincoln tapestry
Lincoln commissioned the tapestry as part of its 600th anniversary celebrations, creating a permanent artwork to mark the anniversary while reflecting the College as it is today.
Anderson, who was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2017 and elected to the Royal Academy in 2023, spent time at Lincoln as he developed the design. Over a two-year period, he and members of the Dovecot team made several visits to the College, meeting students and getting to know its spaces and traditions.
The finished piece took a team of five weavers over seven months to create, working by hand to recreate the colours, textures and gestures of his original artwork. The design centres on a long table, drawing on the role of dining and gathering together in College life. Around it are references to Lincoln’s academic, sporting and social life, including the University’s four academic divisions.
Speaking about the process, Anderson said: “I spent quite a bit of time in the College, talking to students and trying to get to understand the feel of the place, what it feels like to live a contemporary life in a place full of such history and how to sum all that up in a drawing.”
A few weeks before the close of the Guildhall exhibition, the tapestry will return to Oxford in early March 2027 and be installed in the Langford Room, where it will become part of the College’s permanent collection.
Visiting the exhibition
Location: Guildhall Art Gallery, Guildhall Yard, London, EC2V 5AE
Time: Daily 10am to 5pm.
Admission: Pay What You Can. You can pay as much or as little as you like for your ticket or visit for free. Income from this exhibition will help the Gallery to put on new public exhibitions and support their education and conservation programmes.
