The National Trust has launched three linked exhibitions at different historic properties for the first time.
The Journeys – Global Textiles from the Karun Thakar Collection shows are being held at Osterley Park and House in west London, Blickling Estate in Norfolk and Dyrham Park in South Gloucestershire. All run until 1 November.
Thakar, a collector, author and curator, was born in Kenya, raised in India and is now based in London. His lifelong relationship with textiles began in his mother’s couture tailoring shop in Delhi, where he learned to sew, crochet and embroider as a child.
The exhibitions, which explore themes of migration, trade, craftsmanship, colonialism, global history and beauty, feature items collected by Thakar over the past 40 years.
“The National Trust did a pioneering report on Dyrham Park’s connections with colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade, so that house is steeped in that history,” said Thakar. “And those are all our histories, my history and British history.
“Blickling was a also very global house. I was very interested to learn that Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi visited the house in 1930s, which was pre-Indian independence.”
The Journeys exhibition at Osterley features more than 70 baghs and phulkaris – intricately embroidered wedding shawls from Punjab. These textiles were traditionally made by young girls and women for ceremonial use, and have strong links to global craftsmanship, trade and empire.
“Most of them were done in 19th century and there are no written records about what the women thought and did in that time, so these textiles are the traces left by these women – they’re untold stories,” said Thakar.
The news of the Journeys exhibitions came as the National Trust announced its programme for the rest of the year.
Plans include a year-long exhibition opening at Lacock Abbey on 27 June featuring the last major commission by late British photographer Martin Parr (1952–2025). Parr took the images after returning to a place that shaped his early career, when he photographed the village of Lacock, Wiltshire, in the 1980s.
The National Trust is also staging a year-long nationwide tour of Self-Portrait Wearing a Feathered Bonnet by Rembrandt van Rijn. As part of the idea to encourage deeper engagement with artworks, visitors will be encouraged to engage in “slow looking”, in order to spend longer enjoying the Dutch masterpience.
The Rembrandt tour is at Dunham Massey in Cheshire until 12 July before moving to Upton House in Warwickshire from 17 July to 8 November. It will then return to its home, Buckland Abbey in Devon.
The trust is also publishing Queer Creativity: A National Trust History, which explores stories associated with people who have questioned and challenged conventional notions of gender and sexuality. This book brings together a range of these individuals in an appreciation of queer creativity, celebrating the cultural contributions of those whose lives did not align with the prevailing expectations of their time.
The National Trust is an independent conservation charity founded in 1895. It looks after more than 250,000 hectares of countryside, 890 miles of coastline, one million collection items and 500 historic properties, gardens and nature reserves.
In 2024/25 the trust received 26 million visitors to its pay-for-entry sites across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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