The Nature Of Gothic

Multidisciplinary artist and academic Jamie Holman - perhaps as highly regarded for inspirational work in his native North-West working with diverse communities to embed and platform creative agency - as he is as one of the leading art disruptors of his generation, is about to exhibit new work juxtaposing rare illustrated manuscripts, Pre-Raphaelite paintings and Arts & Crafts textiles.

‍‘The Nature of Gothic’ is a landmark exhibition opening on September 12 at Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery, in which Holman re-examines the work of Victorian artist, designer, craftsman, writer and socialist Willam Morris alongside an extraordinary collection of rare books, manuscripts and ceramics from major national institutions. ‘The Nature of Gothic: Reflecting the Natural World in Historic and Contemporary Artistic Practice’, explores how artists across faiths, eras and disciplines have turned to nature for aesthetic and symbolic inspiration.

‘The Nature of Gothic’ is the most ambitious exhibition ever staged by the Museum with Blackburn’s own Hart Collection (one of the UK’s most significant bodies of rare books and manuscripts) taking its rightful place on the national cultural map.

Co-curated by Dr Cynthia Johnston (School of Advanced Study, University of London) and Anthea Purkis (Curator of Art, Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery), the exhibition features items from the museum's own collections, including those bequeathed by local rope maker, industrialist and collector R.E. Hart, matched with pieces of equal significance on loan from the British Library, Manchester Art Gallery, Cambridge University Library and others.

Holman's addition to a series of bound books originally created by Morris in 1894 for James and Mary Lee Tregaskis’ 1894 International Bookbinding Exhibition has been commissioned by the museum - and not only holds up a 21st century lens to one of the Arts and Crafts movement's central figures - but does so in a way that controversially chimes with up-to-the-minute AI technology - and at the same time underscores the agency that is central to his creative practice; as the artist is a committed advocate for Blackburn's Pakistani community, where his studio is based.

The artist (who has also been selected as part of the John Moores Painting Prize 2025 exhibition, which opens 6 September at Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery) has used AI to re-write the 13th-century romance, ‘The Tale of King Florus and the Fair Jehane’ used by Morris, translating it into Pothwari and Urdu as well as English and Latin.

Pakistan didn’t exist at the time the previous books were created for the 1894 exhibition - and to further reinforce the importance of the South Asian community to Blackburn and the district's weaving and textile heritage, Holman's new ‘Tregaskis’ binding will be bound at the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan, returning to be part of this new exhibition in October and forever joining the other Tregaskis bindings held within Blackburn’s significant existing collection of rare books.

In addition to Holman’s commission, ceramicist Nehal Aamir has developed a new series of ceramic borders for ‘The Nature of Gothic’. Born in Pakistan and now living in Manchester, Aamir's work represents her multicultural background and experiences as a Muslim woman. With a fascination with craft and its traditional techniques, her work is a fusion of her roots with an attraction for rich British culture through colour and hand-painted surfaces. Nehal has always been interested in storytelling which she showcases through tiles and her work illustrates the rituals and realities of contemporary urban life.

Her work draws directly from Blackburn’s historic ceramics collection and highlights the visual and technical connections between Islamic decorative traditions and the Arts & Crafts movement - a cross-cultural resonance at the heart of the exhibition’s theme.

Dr Cynthia Johnston said: "Through Blackburn Museum’s exceptional collections, we are able to explore this shared cultural theme of gothic decorative art using the natural world, present across books, paintings, textiles and ceramics. Blackburn’s collections are astonishing in scope and quality. With this exhibition, we place it within the national narrative of collecting, creativity and cross-cultural exchange.

The loan from the British Library is particularly significant and generous, it includes six medieval manuscripts including a national treasure, the ‘Bedford Psalter and Hours’. This manuscript was made in London in the early 15th century in the workshop of the famous illuminator, Herman Sheere. The Bedford Psalter will be matched by a manuscript from the museum’s Hart Collection which also comes from Sheere’s workshop.”

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‘The Nature of Gothic: Reflecting the Natural World in Historic and Contemporary Artistic Practice’

Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, Museum St, Blackburn BB1 7AJ 12 September – 13 December 2025

Admission: FREE

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Header Image: Sleeping Beauty, by Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) Credit: Manchester Art Gallery