Compassion Revolution Community Textile Artist | Amber Valley

Amanda Haran is a contemporary community textile artist based in Amber Valley, Derbyshire, whose work explores the relationships between people, place and natural materials. With over twenty years of experience supporting underrepresented communities, Amanda creates gentle, inclusive environments where making becomes a way to build confidence, connection and wellbeing.
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Her practice is rooted in the fibre traditions of the UK, particularly the heritage of flax growing and rope making in Amber Valley. Amanda grows flax in Riddings and works from seed to fibre, using slow, material-led processes to uncover local histories of labour, land use and community resilience. This focus connects to her own family background in weaving and textile engineering, including links to the Horrockses pioneers and earlier studies in textiles and business management at UMIST.
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Central to Amanda's work is the belief that shared making invites conversation, reflection and a deeper understanding of place. She co-creates projects with communities, guiding people to notice small details, exchange stories and feel part of something made together. Her role as a Creative Listener with Make/Shift has strengthened this participatory approach, drawing on social thinking methodologies to help people map their experiences and relationships through creative processes.
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Amanda's artistic influences include Lorina Bulwer's stitched narratives, Harriet Goodall's fibre-based sculpture, Alice Kettle's expansive thread work and Stephen Willats's models of social engagement. These figures shape her understanding of textiles as tools for communication, care, and collective meaning-making.
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Her work often weaves together place, memory and simple craft techniques to reconnect communities with the landscapes they inhabit. This includes leading the Riddings Community Flax Project, undertaking heritage research across Amber Valley and collaborating with organisations such as Daniel Lismore Studios, the Turner Prize 2021 cohort, Array Collective, Walking Forest and community groups across the Midlands. Each partnership reflects Amanda's commitment to kindness, curiosity and accessible, community-centred making.
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Amanda continues to deepen her understanding of fibre from plant to thread, expanding the material vocabulary that underpins her socially engaged textile practice. Her work evolves through close attention to process, the stories held within materials and the possibilities that emerge when people create together.