A textile artist from Ruislip has had seven years of work go missing in the post just days before a planned exhibition at Alton Arts Festival in Hampshire.
Holly Searle sent her entire collection of 206 tea towels via a 48-hour Parcelforce delivery on June 22, but the parcel never arrived. Tracking shows it stalled at a depot shortly after dispatch. Royal Mail has apologised and says it is investigating – but has not located the box.
Searle described the loss as “irreplaceable”, saying the Subverted Tea Towel Series has been her livelihood since she began the project in 2020. Using vintage tea towels as canvases, she combines serious themes with humour to encourage people “to think once and then twice”.
She had been due to exhibit the collection and lead a workshop at the festival this weekend.
Holly said: “They can’t locate it. It looks like it’s been scanned in, but it’s not been scanned out.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear of Holly’s experience. We are actively working to discover the whereabouts of this important parcel.”
Feature image: Holly Searle
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