ART students from the region have been working on a textiles exhibition at a North-East museum.

The second-year students from the Textile and Surface Design BA (hons) course at Cleveland College of Art and Design, in Hartlepool, have created the Designing Damask exhibition at Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham.

The exhibition displays screen-printed textiles, some of which are inspired by collections at the museum.

Claire Jones, keeper of furniture, who worked with the students on the project, said: "Projects such as this demonstrate how inspiring historic collections can be to young designers.

"Hanging the students' work in the English Period Rooms was a fun and rewarding experience and results in a stunning combination of old and new which will, I am sure, delight our visitors."

Each student's assignment was to produce a piece based on the principles of damask designs. They drew on historic and contemporary sources for inspiration.

Damask originally refers to a type of sheet metal produced in Damascus, which had a wavy surface pattern produced by welding iron and steel together. In textiles, damask refers to a figured woven fabric with patterns visible on both sides.

The exhibition runs until June 1.

Published: 13/05/2004