Fiona Raeside-Elliott

My research explores the rich culture of miners’ banners in North-East England; a subject I became interested in following my commission to design the contemporary Saint Cuthbert’s banner which now hangs at the entrance to Saint Cuthbert’s shrine in Durham Cathedral. Although the last colliery closed in 1993, both historic and replica miners’ banners continue to be paraded at the annual Durham Miners’ Gala (DMG), which attracts greater crowds now than when the pits were fully operational in the 1970s. As new and replica banners are being made and taken to the Durham Miners’ Gala, I am now asking the question around the ‘worth’ and ‘value’ of a contemporary banner and whether they can ever hope to possess the ‘aura’ of the original ones – now retired from their working lives. My PhD is entitled Social fabric: A study of community representation through contemporary banner-making in North-East England,and considers contemporary textile banners in terms of artistic expression, post-industrial community representation and conduit for emotional wellbeing.