Threads is a pop-up exhibition featuring an interactive experience, the Threads game, and textile works developed during Victoria Bradbury’s US-UK Fulbright Fellowship at The Glasgow School of Art. Through artistic research across SIT, Fine Art, and Design during 6 months of 2026 , she translated historical fragments into interactive digital environments and textile forms.
Threads draws particular inspiration from the 1697 Paisley witch trials and the Paisley thread industry. The accusations began when eleven-year-old Christian Shaw displayed unusual symptoms, leading to several members of the local community being accused of witchcraft. Shaw remains central to the story, though her role in the accusations was amplified by those in positions of power. The ensuing trials resulted in the deaths of eight people: four women and four men.
Paisley later became known for its thread and textile industries, and Shaw herself became an important figure in these developments when as an adult, she founded the Bargarran Thread Company.
The Threads exhibition presents artefacts and environments shaped by intertwined histories of witch persecution, labor, and material culture, inviting viewers to engage with stories that circulate through communities and become embedded in collective memory.
There will be a preview on Friday 3 July, 5-7pm BST, at the opening reception on Saturday 4 July, 5-7pm BST, or at the Virtual Gallery Tour on Sunday 5 July at 2pm BST.
The Windows on Heritage Gallery will be open to view the pop-up Exhibition:
Friday 3 July 4pm – 7pm
Saturday 4 July 10am – 7pm
Sunday 5 July 10am – 4pm
For further information contact press@gsa.ac.uk
About the artist
Victoria Bradbury is Associate Professor and Chair of New Media at UNC Asheville where she also runs The Sami Zoobi New Media Gallery with her colleagues. She is the 2026 US–UK Fulbright Commission Scholar at The Glasgow School of Art and specialises in interactive and immersive media storytelling. In 2020, she received an Epic MegaGrant to combine the Unreal Engine with VR and physical computing. With Dr. Suzy O’Hara she co-edited Art Hack Practice: Critical Intersections of Art, Innovation and the Maker Movement and her artworks have been exhibited worldwide, including at IEEE-GEM, xCoAx, the {Re}Happening, Harvestworks, The Albright Knox, and The New Britain Museum of American Art. Victoria holds a Ph.D. from the University of Sunderland, an MFA from Alfred University and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art.
About The Glasgow School of Art
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is internationally recognised as one of Europe’s leading independent university-level institutions for education and research in the visual creative disciplines – ranking 8th in the world and 5th in Europe in the QS World University Rankings 2026. Our studio-based, specialist, practice-led teaching, learning, and research draw talented individuals with a shared passion for visual culture and creative production from all over the world.
Originally founded in 1845 as one of the first Government Schools of Design, the School’s history can be traced back to 1753 and the establishment of the Foulis Academy, delivering a European-style art education. Today, the GSA is an international community of over 3,500 students and staff across architecture, design, digital, fine art, and innovation in our campuses in Glasgow and Altyre (in the Scottish Highlands) and a thriving Open Studio programme delivering non-degree provision to over 1,500 students annually.
