mac, Birmingham, UK

mac recently underwent a £15 million refurbishment to bring the facility up to date and to allow an even greater range of accessible activities to take place at the venue. At the centre of the interior design was the creation of a permanent piece of art that would be woven into carpet. Brintons’ proud reputation as a global leader in weaving technology and the handling of intricate designs, meant it was commissioned by mac to digitally translate the artwork into a format that would be suitable for carpet and then to weave it into durable Axminster that would compliment the shape of the building and be installed throughout the venue’s first floor.

Creative design approach

mac commissioned Birmingham-based artist Dr Myfanwy Johns and members of the Bosnian Cultural Centre – Midlands to create the piece of permanent artwork that would be recreated in Axminster carpet by Brintons. As mac celebrates cultural influences from all around the world, Myfanwy and her colleagues based their work on the bold and dramatic shapes that are traditionally associated with the traditional Bosnian arts and crafts movement, that encapsulates disciplines such as weaving, embroidery and crochet.

The solution that was delivered

The final piece of artwork submitted to Brintons and then woven into Axminster carpet is called ‘Sijelo’ which can be translated as a ‘social gathering where a craft-based activity takes place’. The background of the carpet features green and blue texturing and various hexagonal shapes have been overlaid on top of this to link to the shape of the mac building and help the carpet to flow through the venue. These hexagons have then been married to various large-scale patterns and shapes that are synonymous with traditional Bosnian arts and crafts. The bold patterns and shapes are accented by using different colours that include orange, red, black and beige to give the design depth and variation.

Services Provided

Brintons delivered a full design and project management service to mac and worked closely with the commissioned artists to digitally translate the artwork into a format that would be suitable for weave in Axminster carpet. Brintons also provided colour prints, full-scale plots and woven carpet samples.

Brintons Reaction

Brintons’ project manager said: “As a business that is local to the mac building, we were extremely proud to be commissioned to reproduce this permanent piece of artwork in Axminster and to be involved with a project that captured the imagination of the local community and was for the local community.

“The carpet makes a stunning impact and really helps to set an appropriate mood when visitors first enter the mac building. At Brintons, we work very hard to ensure we remain a global leader in weaving and carpet technology and the intricacy of the artwork we have reproduced at mac illustrates just what kind of detail can be weaved into carpet today.”