Process

Karanjit Panesar & Hannah Robson

Karanjit Panesar edited together some film imagery of the jacquard machine to capture and share a small slice of this technical, social and material history of West Yorkshire.

There have been numerous technical difficulties during the early stages of the project.  Hannah had to find highly skilled people, people who know these machines inside-out, to help. From these engineers, weavers and electricians she learned how the loom was made and designed, how it functions behind the metal casing. Hannah has been lucky to learn about weaving from people who have spent their whole lives in the trade, who are enviably comfortable with the machine.  She heard stories about apprenticeships, significant mills in the area, the people they learnt from, the types of machines from the past, as well as tricks to coax the machine into working.

Hannah captured footage with an phone to help remember the specialist processes and capture the movements of hands and stories told.

Karanjit has edited together some of the footage to create a film which captures some of the atmosphere of making and sharing, and the skills, humour and generosity of the weavers who have supported the project.