Shirley Craven and Hull Traders
Revolutionary Post-War Fabrics and Furniture

Please give us your feedback by taking our online survey - you could win a copy of the book that accompanies the exhibition!

Kaplan by Shirley Craven, 1961

November by Shirley Craven, 1967

Hull Traders was a visionary post-war textile company spearheaded by award-winning designer Shirley Craven. Her big bold abstracts in eye-popping colours capture all the exuberance of the swinging sixties.

A ground-breaking touring exhibition organised by the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull - Craven’s native city - celebrates her remarkable creative partnership with Hull Traders.

Following a highly successful launch at the Ferens Art Gallery in 2009 and subsequent tour to Bankfield Museum, Halifax, the exhibition is next due to open at King’s Lynn Arts Centre on Saturday 18 September 2010.

Find out more about King’s Lynn Arts Centre (link opens in a new window)

Curated by leading design historian and author Lesley Jackson, the exhibition is accompanied by a major new book 'Shirley Craven and Hull Traders - Revolutionary Fabrics and Furniture 1957-1980'.

Find out more about 'Shirley Craven and Hull Traders - Revolutionary Fabrics and Furniture 1957 - 1980'

Hand screen-printed furnishing fabrics were Hull Traders’ speciality, including designs by artists such as Eduardo Paolozzi and Ivon Hitchens. Many gifted young designers collaborated with Hull Traders - forty in total - including Doreen Dyall, Peter McCulloch, Cliff Holden and Althea NcNish.

Find out more about the Hull Traders designers

Featuring eighty high-velocity fabrics, the exhibition presents a feast of post-war pattern and colour. Bernard Holdaway’s revolutionary 'tomotom' furniture made of giant cardboard tubes - launched by Hull Traders in 1966 - adds another dimension to the show.

Have you visited the exhibition? Please give us your feedback by taking our online survey - you could win a copy of the book that accompanies the exhibition!

The touring Hull Traders exhibition has been organised by Ferens Art Gallery, Hull City Council, and supported by Arts Council England.

All images © Private Collections / Ferens Art Gallery, Hull City Council