loomeweight II - Museum of the Home

Part of London Textile Month, with programmes running throughout September 2026.

loomeweight is a ritual of remembering the un-rememberable, a gathering of voices and threads, a story told in increments, unravelling and finding itself through its sharing.

loomeweight II is a new performance project for one loom and two singers, unfolding over 45 minutes of weaving and sound. The performers sit across from each other, the weight of their bodies providing the necessary tension for the warp.

The structure of the loom is an homage, an imagined/adapted version of a backstrap loom. As we weave, an analogous tapestry of sound will unfold, an obscured map built from the fragments of folk songs, sounds of mechanical looms, archival recordings of voices and our own singing – the remnants of a broken aural/tactile tradition, reimagined/reformed/reconstituted into a new language.

loomeweight critiques the failures inherent in a system which promotes consumption over the sustainable processes of creating and community building. loomeweight explores the omnipresent theme of ecological collapse, repurposing discarded objects into something of value. loomeweight remembers lost traditions, dislocated communities and the weavers who suffered and starved; the collateral damage of industrialisation. loomeweight works in opposition to correctness. loomeweight is a celebration of trash.

Those who come to witness loomeweight are welcomed – they become a part of the weaving and the calling. loomeweight is vulnerable. loomeweight is impractical. loomeweight is playful. loomeweight is persistent: voice becomes yarn and yarn becomes voice.

About loomweight II

loomeweight is a collaboration between Hestor Dart and Patricia Auchterlonie, both singers and makers working at the intersection of experimental sound and craft. Our performances explore the act of weaving as a live process, threading together found materials and voice to create evolving sound environments. We developed and toured our first project, loomeweight I in 2024/2025. We performed at The Bonnington Centre, Helgi’s Bar, Nozstock Festival, Starpelpa Festival in Riga, at Cafe Oto with Eavesdropping Festival and at hcmf//2025.

Patricia is a performer and maker who is looking to explore all that is playful/colourful/unexpected. Her practice encompasses a wide scope of ways to sing, from opera to experimental / improvised vocalities. She has recently performed at the Royal Opera House, hcmf//, Bold Tendencies, with the LA Phil, and at the Zurich Opera House, among others. She brings a highly visual, object-focused perspective to our work, exploring what exists in the joining of traditional/historical and experimental forms of making.

Hestor is a singer, musician, and maker whose work is driven by an interest in expansive, unconventional and ugly sound, traditional crafts, and collaborative practice. Their approach is deeply interdisciplinary, incorporating improvisation, folk traditions, experimental vocal and instrumental techniques. Their creative framework is shaped by queer, anarchist philosophies, informing both the themes they explore and the collaborative, process-led nature of their practice. Their debut EP meet(me) was released in 2025 with OVER/AT. They have performed in venues such as Cafe Oto, Snape Maltings and Avalon Cafe, and at numerous festivals including hcmf//, eavesdropping, Grimeborn and Tête-à-Tête. Hestor and Patricia met on the inaugural 2023-24 VOICEBOX programme, led by Juliet Fraser and supported by Britten Pears Arts, City University London, Sound Festival and Hawkwood Centre. We have been working together ever since.