Queer Originals with Cumbria Community Foundation & Textile Artist Dr Noki

Textile artist, raver and fashion anarchist Noki took time off from London Fashion Week in 2024-25 to work alongside Queer Cumbrians on our very own fashion and merch project!

Thanks to funding from Cumbria Community Foundation we worked with young artists across Cumberland to take unwanted clothing and turn them into wearable punk art that expresses Queer pride, joy and resilience.

We developed our own range of merch for QC, launching our VERY popular ‘I Went to Cumbria and Turned into a Dyke’ tee, as well as a range of badges, keyring and poster art!

The tee shirt sold internationally with folks sending us their photos from as far away as Australia and the USA! It also opened up conversations about the power of the word Dyke, and the importance of the Rebel Dykes within the history of Queer liberation.

The project was documented on real life Queer Cumbrians across the county by local photographer Rhys Robert Thompson with an exhibition in Whitehaven and at our gallery The Closet, in Carlisle.