Knit to This
Knit to This: Tapestries for Troubled Times
I turn to Jo Andrews’s Haptic and Hue podcast when I’m deep in a knitting project and want to listen as I work. Television can be too much, sometimes.
At this point, Jo (we’re on imaginary-friend first-name basis at this point) has taken me all over the world.
Her enduring topic? Textiles. Cloth. Fabric. Weaving. Clothing. History. All of it, in seven seasons of Haptic and Hue, with dozens of episodes.
Her latest, “Tapestries for Troubled Times,” is exactly what I’m in the mood for. The Bayeux Tapestry came up in the MDK Society Lounge last week, and in that way that things connect, this podcast episode bubbled up for me.
Jo and her guests explore the iconic Bayeux Tapestry (which is an embroidery, she quickly reminds us!), and also a much newer project of similarly epic scale, the Great Tapestry of Scotland, completed in the past decade.
Jo Andrews is aware that it’s quite a trick to talk about textiles without showing them to us. It’s such a different way to approach the world of textiles—she’s all about the people, the stories and places, and she’s a great storyteller and collector of guests who tell us amazing tales.
What I like to do is listen to the podcast, then go see images online after listening.
What does the Great Tapestry of Scotland look like? Nothing, it turns out, like I thought it would look.
Listen to “Tapestries for Troubled Times” right here.
And when you’re ready to see the Great Tapestry of Scotland, it’s in Galashiels, about 90 minutes south of Edinburgh in the Scottish Borders. They’ve built a beautiful space for it.
If you’re not quite in the area, there’s even an app to download to your iPhone, a beautifully done tour of each panel of the Great Tapestry of Scotland.
This is lovely. I’m always looking for referrals to interesting podcasts & websites for needle arts, books and cooking & baking. I’ve just downloaded the Great Tapestry of Scotland app to my ipad. I have some Scottish Afternoon Tea that I will brew today and enjoy while looking out the window at all the snow yet to melt. Thank you!
I saw this tapestry a couple of years ago… AMAZING! STUNNING! STRIKING! It’s not simply a history but poignant moments artistically interpreted by these artists.
If you looking for tapestries in our of the way places check out the French Shore tapestry in Conche, Newfoundland & Labrador
http://www.frenchshoretapestry.com/en/intro.asp
And if you happen to be in western Massachusetts visit the Clark Institute exhibit of modern tapestry:
Wall Power! Modern French Tapestry from the Mobilier National, Paris. https://www.clarkart.edu/microsites/wall-power/exhibition-overview/about-the-exhibition
Stunning!
Completely agree. The tapestry show at the Clark is just breath taking!
Thanks so much for sharing, Ann. I loved the podcast and now an determined to go back to Scotland to check out the real thing
I absolutely love Haptic and Hue, the best textile podcast IMHO. And newer but also wonderful is Friends of Haptic and Hue with Jo and her partner Bill which contains episodes of Travels With Textiles, equally wonderful.
This is an amazing podcast. I’m diving in as I spin. Awesome suggestion!
wonderful and a bit more bonkers is
https://www.ulstermuseum.org/stories/game-thrones-tapestry
Excellent and would always be wonderful but no more so than now as your perfect title indicates. Thank you for this gift.
For another great textile/clothing listen – ‘Torn’ from BBC Radio 4. It discusses different articles of clothing and things worn, what they mean, how they came about, the historical significance.
Very well done, even if you know and studied some of the topics.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/torn/id1639885944
Thank you for this!
The Guernsey Tapestry Museum is also terrific and could be another addition to your wonderful columns!
Birlinn Ltd, a Scottish publishing company, has a magnificent book on the tapestry, appropriately titled The Great Tapestry of Scotland. I first read about the tapestry and the book on the KDD blog a few years ago, bought the book, and am glad I did. Here’s a link to it: https://birlinn.co.uk/product/the-great-tapestry-of-scotland-3/
No, I have no connection with the publishing house, just a happy customer.
Thanks Ann for this interesting suggestion!
My mother, Rev Judy Oatway, studied art and theology at Concordia University in Montréal.
She wrote her Master’s thesis on the Kieskama tapestry in South Africa. Like many Medieval tapestries, it tells about the lives of people living and dying in an age of plague, this time HIV/AIDS.
Mum got the opportunity to teach theology at Bishop Okulu College, Great Lakes University, in Kenya.
The community of Bwaja is primarily grandmothers raising their orphaned grandchildren. They invited Mum to preach one Sunday. Mum, an old white lady from Canada, had no idea how she could connect with someone in this community.
But she opened with the question, “Who here is a grandmother?”
And so began a long relationship of learning from each other.
Mum hoped she had earned enough trust to start up a creative, therapeutic project among the grandmothers.
She spoke of the Kieskama tapestry and encouraged women to design, plan, and embroider a similar Bwaja tapestry.
The panels are centered around a portrait of Christ the King and extend out to church life, funerals, children playing, farming and fishing, old women with orphans, and more.
The tapestry toured South Africa and Canada. It rests now as the altar of the little church in Bwaja where it all began.
I visited the Great Tapestry Museum a couple of years ago. An easy day trip from Edinburgh, and one of the most fascinating. Absolutely stunning pieces, and lots of details hidden away as well. I recommend this to everyone going to Scotland. Whether or not you are interested in textiles, this is well worth the trip.
Hi Ann, I have only just come across this, but thank you so much for posting this. Haptic & Hue was started by me during COVID because I was frustrated that no one could tell me about the history and meaning of textiles. I thought it would run for about 8 episodes. But I found there was more and more to say and it has become my life. So thank you for listening, and thank you for your support. I have learned a huge amount from doing it. I thought I might be the only one interested in this. But it seems that there are others too! And yes, I’m sure we are on first name terms! All the Best, Jo
I had the pleasure of visiting Galashiels a couple of years ago and The Great Tapestry of Scotland is wonderful. I highly recommend a visit in person or via the app.