---
title: The Stitch That Bit Back
description: Open call for textile exhibition at Fringe Arts Bath Festival 2026 in Bath, UK. Free to apply, open to all internationally.
url: https://www.artsume.com/programs/33174605-a321-4910-85d7-8604a5672855
type: program
status: closed
createdAt: "2026-03-30"
updatedAt: "2026-09-30"
programType: Exhibition
organization: Fringe Arts Bath Festival
organizationUrl: https://www.artsume.com/o/fringe-arts-bath-festival
deadline: "2026-04-11"
location: Fringe Arts Bath Festival 2026 (FaB), Bath, United Kingdom
isOnline: false
compensationRange: Free to submit. If selected, artists are asked for a £25 contribution and some of their time.
disciplines:
  - textile
  - fiber art
  - embroidery
  - design
---

# The Stitch That Bit Back

**Hosted by:** Fringe Arts Bath Festival

**Type:** Exhibition | **Location:** Fringe Arts Bath Festival 2026 (FaB), Bath, United Kingdom | **Deadline:** April 11, 2026

## About This Program

> "Fibre as a site of tension, rebellion, and transformation—textiles that speak back through resistance, repair, subversion, emotional labour, and the uncanny or surreal within fibre"

This exhibition invites textiles that speak back: embroidery that interrupts, felt that ferments, quilts that question, lace that lacerates. Artists are encouraged to explore resistance and repair, the subversion of traditional techniques, emotional labour embedded in making, and the uncanny, absurd, or surreal within fibre. Personal and collective narratives that unravel, provoke, or expose are welcome, whether expressed through refined craftsmanship or deliberately raw gesture.

There is no fixed theme—only an invitation to twist, pull, fray, disrupt, and reimagine what textile practice can be. Works may be rooted in heritage or radically futuristic, quietly defiant or boldly confrontational.

The Stitch That Bit Back celebrates innovative textile art that doesn't soothe but stings; not comfort, but confrontation; not softness, but strength with an edge.

The exhibition accepts artworks that engage with textiles through their materials, techniques, concepts, or themes, including both classical textile practices and innovative or experimental works that extend the boundaries of the textile medium.

All are welcome to apply, of any age, status, and from anywhere in the world.

The Stitch that bit back exhibition is part of Fringe Arts Bath Festival 2026 (FaB), with 17 exhibition & project call-outs forming the FaB Festival programme, 22 May - 6 June 2026 in Bath, UK.

If you are selected, FaB will ask for a £25 contribution and some of your time - read their FAQs for details.

FaB is a test-bed for new ideas, a platform for early-career curators & artists, and those who prefer to operate outside of the gallery-based arts scene. FaB aims to raise the profile of contemporary visual arts in Bath and beyond.

FaB festival is a free, 2 week festival putting art in unusual places in unexpected ways for people to happen across and interact with, with exhibitions, interventions and events based in Bath, UK.

## Eligibility & Requirements

- **Geographic Eligibility:** International
- **Disciplines:** textile, fiber art, embroidery, design
- **Note:** All are welcome to apply, of any age, status, and from anywhere in the world. If selected, FaB will ask for a £25 contribution and some of your time.

### Additional Requirements

Artworks that engage with textiles through their materials, techniques, concepts, or themes, including both classical textile practices and innovative or experimental works that extend the boundaries of the textile medium.

## Compensation & Benefits

Free to submit. If selected, artists are asked for a £25 contribution and some of their time.

## Timeline

- **Opens:** March 30, 2026
- **Deadline:** April 11, 2026
- **Program Start:** May 22, 2026
- **Program End:** June 6, 2026

## Contact

**Email:** stitch@fringeartsbath.co.uk

## How to Apply

Apply at: https://www.fringeartsbath.co.uk/stitch