Free entry
Wednesday 28 October - Sunday 1 November, 11.00am - 4pm
Clore Creative Studio
We had such fun this summer with The Ropery that we have decided to bring back a mini version of it in October half term.
The Ropery was a participatory exhibition taking inspiration from East London’s rope making histories, spanning over 200 years until the early 1900’s and was co-created with designer Sanne Visser.
The Mini Ropery offers all the making elements that were available in the original, just in a slightly smaller venue.
Drop-in to engage in the processes of making rope, string, braiding and knot tying
Sanne Visser and our Ropery Assistants will be on hand to help youexplore the material processes of this fundamental but endangered craft.
Sanne Visser is a Dutch designer and researcher based in London. Her studio takes a systemic approach to material innovation and future thinking. Specialising in regenerative design and sustainable solutions, her work aims to uncover the complexities between social, ecological and technical domains.
Sanne is internationally recognised for her groundbreaking work with human hair as a material resource, developing yarns, ropes, textiles, composites and open-source tools, often through interdisciplinary collaborations. She uses ancient techniques like spinning and ropemaking to turn this abundant material into high-quality objects such as bags, swings, and mirrors. Her participatory and community-led approach to material design has been central to her practice for over a decade. Since graduating from the MA Material Futures at Central Saint Martins in 2016, she has collaborated with leading institutions and brands including the Design Museum, Science Gallery, TextielMuseum, Nike, Horniman Museum, British Council, V&A and Newham Council.
Alongside her practice, Sanne is a Researcher and Associate Lecturer at the University of the Arts London, where she recently submitted her PhD in Systemic Material Innovation. Since 2025, Sanne leads HairCycle, a community-led initiative in the London Borough of Newham that turns human hair into innovative materials with local communities. In 2022, she was named one of UKRI’s ‘101 Jobs to Save the World’.
