Crafts from the Scottish capital to the British

An Edinburgh studio is taking part in this year’s London Craft Week.

The Clothworkers’ Company of London, are generously supporting a series of ticketed events in association with the Dovecot Studios in the Scottish capital, as part of London Craft Week, which runs 9 to 13 May.

The public will attend a series of unique weaving masterclasses and talk with Dovecot’s weavers on Friday 11 May, beneath the epic Chris Ofili tapestry triptych, woven between 2014 and 2017.

The masterclasses and lunchtime talk about the making of the tapestry, will allow members of the public a unique opportunity to hear about the process of traditional tapestry weaving in this contemporary context.

Commissioned by The Clothworkers’ Company, a Livery Company established in 1528 to oversee the cloth finishing trade in the City of London, the tapestry titled The Caged Bird’s Song is now on permanent display in Clothworkers’ Hall following the National Gallery’s unveiling of the work in the Weaving Magic exhibition in summer 2017.

The textile masterpiece took five weavers nearly three years to weave, and was a collaboration with Turner Prize winning artist Chris Ofili.

The Dovecot Studios team show off their outstanding skills

Naomi Robertson, Dovecot’s studio manager and master weaver said: ‘Often artists have no previous experience of their work being woven in tapestry before working with Dovecot.

‘Chris came to the studio before designing his piece and spent time understanding our process, what we do, how we achieve it, what works in tapestry and our skills in colour blending.’

The weavers at Dovecot interpreted a watercolour by Ofili. He claimed that he wanted to see if they could ‘weave water’. The imagery in the tapestry reflects Ofili’s interest in classical mythology and contemporary ‘demigods’, together with the stories, magic and colour of the Trinidadian landscape he inhabits.

Peter Langley, chairman of The Clothworkers’ Company’s Collections and Archives Committee added: ‘We wanted to commission a work designed by a major artist which will be hung in our Hall for hundreds of years. Our roots are in the textile trade. We have been keen to support the craft of tapestry weaving and are delighted that this commission allowed Dovecot’s weavers to create a truly stunning work of art.’

Following on from this appearance, in Edinburgh, Dovecot will be running a weaving workshop from 10 to 12 July 2018 which will look at the concept of ‘weaving water’, taking inspiration from tapestries like The Caged Bird’s Song. This three day tapestry masterclass focuses on the theme of water and is aimed at those who have a basic knowledge of tapestry weaving and who want to explore different approaches.

Tickets can be booked via Dovecot’s website.