What: Shirley Craven and Hull Traders: Revolutionary Post-War Fabrics and
Furniture
When: 11am, Friday 2 October 2009 - for interviews, photos and filming opps
Where: The Ferens Art Gallery, Queen Victoria Square, Hull


Yeah baby! The 60s are set to swing into Hull's Ferens Art Gallery as it
launches an exhibition of iconic 60s design which will go on to tour
nationally. Think Austin Powers: funky, pschedelic textiles: retro 60s
furniture: and George Best (the connection will become clear). And at the
heart of this exhibition - "Shirley Craven and Hull Traders: Revolutionary
Post-War Fabrics and Furniture" - is a celebrated Hull born and bred
designer.

This prestigious exhibition, organised by Hull City Council's Ferens Art
Gallery and backed by a £100K grant from the Arts Council, opens in Hull on
3 October for three months. It will then go on to tour nationally in
Halifax, Kings Lynn, Preston and other venues yet to be confirmed.

Shirley Craven was born in Hull, studied at the Hull College of Art and
later at the Royal College of Art in London. She went on to join Hull
Traders, a company founded by (and named after) Tristram Hull in 1957 which
brought together a host of hip, young designers who took the interiors world
by storm.

We're talking sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi, furniture designer Bernard Holdaway
(Shirley Craven's husband), painter Ivon Hitchens and Britain's first and
most distinguished black textile designer, Althea McNish to name but a few.
Based in Lancashire, it was run by visionary Peter Neubert from 1959 onwards
with Hull's Shirley Craven its star designer and art director.

As well as the bold, eye-popping textiles adorning the walls, the exhibition
will also feature the famous 'tomotom' furniture which launched to great
acclaim at the 1966 Ideal Home Show. This hip, disposable cardboard
furniture based entirely on circular forms became an icon of its era and was
famously bought by footballer George Best. The Ikea of its time, tomotom
furniture was designed to appeal to young parents who could literally throw
it away if the kids ruined it.

Showcasing more than 70 works from over 30 designers alongside photographs,
advertising and ephemera from the period, this exhibition shows how Hull
Traders' and Shirley Craven's designs transformed our perception of post-war
design.

Shirley Craven said: "I am delighted to be back in my old stomping ground at
the Ferens Art Gallery. I would like to congratulate the Ferens and the
curators in having the vision to mount an ambitious textile exhibition of
this kind."

Design historian Lesley Jackson, who has curated the exhibition, believes
that Hull Traders are ripe for rediscovery: "Shirley Craven was a big name
in the design world during the 1960s when she won a string of prestigious
awards. After Hull Traders closed in 1980 she sank into obscurity, but this
exhibition puts her back in the spotlight where she belongs."

Project curator on behalf of Hull City Council's Ferens Art Gallery, Lara
Goodband said: "It is absolutely right this unique, ground-breaking show
should open first in Hull, Shirley's home city. Its nationwide tour will
help promote the award-winning gallery and the city of Hull. It is in
recognition of the importance of Hull Traders as a pioneering design company
that the Arts Council of England have so generously supported the whole
project."

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated book: "Shirley Craven
and Hull Traders - Revolutionary Fabrics and Furniture 1957-1980" by Lesley
Jackson. Available from the Ferens Art Gallery from 3 October at a special
price of £20. For order details and further background information about the
exhibition, see www.hulltraders.co.uk