Art in Manufacturing is the National Festival of Making’s headline commissioning programme – providing artists an incomparable platform to make new work in and alongside major industry.

An artist that works at the crossroads of data and drawing, Manchester-based artist Daksha Patel’s practice extends to printmaking, animation and installation to visualise what is immeasurable, illusive and unseen. Colour, light and mapping are emerging themes in Patel’s work, which has also been influenced by a series of residencies in scientific environments, including LifeScience at the University of Dundee and The Christie Hospital in Manchester. The process of drawing – with its simplicity, immediacy and directness – is at the heart of her practice – recent solo shows include: ‘Biorhythmic Drawing’ at Watermans Arts, London and; ‘Pani’ at Horniman Museum, London.


Blackburn Yarn Dyers is a business founded over one hundred years ago in 1915, providing yarn dyeing to clients worldwide from the heart of Lancashire. Working with leading fashion and interiors brands in the UK and internationally, the company offers a range of products and services in support of the textile industry as well as hand-knitting and craft brands, with dyeing and bleaching remaining at the core of its trade.