About Us
Creative Exhibitions is a small company, run by the Directors Andrew Salmon and
Jan King. Both Andrew and Jan had a long career working with major exhibition companies
in the UK such as Reed and Emap plc before setting up their own company in 1991.
Creative Exhibitions specialises exclusively in organising textile events for the
public. Along with their staff of 5 other committed individuals, Creative stages the six
textile events listed in the column on the left, which in total attracts an audience of
over 168,000 visitors per year from over 50 countries.
Why are the Shows organised by Creative Exhibitions regarded as the pre-eminent
textile events in the UK and Ireland?
- An unrivalled selection of companies, selling everything the textile enthusiast needs, from sewing machines all through the spectrum to one off hand dyed silk threads.
- An educational programme offering in excess of 100 different classes at each event.
- Superb gallery exhibitions from leading textile artists and textile groups from around the world.
- And, in the case of The Festival of Quilts, over 1,000 competition quilts on display.
This unique blend is what makes the Shows organised by Creative Exhibitions
Ltd so attractive to such a large audience.
In the past some of the illustrious textile artists and textile groups that have
exhibited with gallery exhibitions include Michael Brennand-Wood, Alice Kettle, Audrey
Walker, Rozanne Hawksley, Pauline Burbidge and The 62 Group to name but a few.
Work has been loaned from both individual private collectors as well as well known
galleries and museums such as The Victoria and Albert Museum, Bankfield Museum, Dorset
County Museum, Essex Museums and the Royal Hospital Museum.
The launch of The Festival of Quilts has added a further dimension to the superb
textile events presented by Creative Exhibitions Ltd. In 2003 the inaugural Festival
of Quilts at the NEC Birmingham established a new standard amongst quilt events in Europe
and attracted visitors from over 30 countries.
In addition to the usual mix of commercial exhibitors, superb gallery exhibitions
and a vast and impressive workshop and academy programme, The Festival offers in excess
of £30,000 prize money for the winning quilts on display.
Other events staged by Creative Exhibitions have included The 5th International
Shibori Symposium (ISS) 2002 which was staged in conjunction with the World Shibori
Network. This was the first time the Symposium had been staged in Europe and attracted
317 delegates with 24 speakers from countries as far afield as Australia, Bangladesh,
Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands,
Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States and in 2005 the
Symposium Sign Post to a New Space: Concept, Collection, Collation. This hugely popular
symposium was put together by Michael Brennand-Wood and Mary Schoeser.