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Taking Up the Thread

Samira Ahmed reflects on some of the ways 'threads' lead us and connect us in our lives: from Ariadne's thread in the labyrinth, to the sacred threads of many faiths

Samira Ahmed takes up the thread to reflect on some of the ways 'threads' can lead us and connect us in our lives. A thread is something we can follow, lose and pick up again. We might find ourselves hanging by a thread, or tying some loose ones together. They can bind us and we can break them. They are woven into our lives literally, metaphorically and linguistically.

The idea of following a thread to guide us is age-old, found for example in the Greek myth of Ariadne's thread leading Theseus out of the labyrinth, after he'd slain the Minotaur. Who doesn't need the thread of understanding to lead them through life's maze sometimes? Sacred threads play a significant role in the ceremonies of many faiths and cultures, not least in the life of the Guru Nanak and the founding of the Sikh faith. And when they are woven or knitted together, threads can play a potent role in art and domestic life.

Featuring music by Monteverdi, Bjork and Judy Collins, and writing by Robert Graves, Simon Armitage and Kate Summerscale.

Produced by Caroline Hughes
Presented by Samira Ahmed
A Whistledown Production for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4

28 minutes

Last on

Sun 8 Jan 2023 23:30
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4

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07/04/2013

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Music Played

  • Pete Seeger

    Oh Had I A Golden Thread

    Performer: Pete Seeger

    • A Link in the Chain.
    • Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
    • B000002ABB.

  • Claudio Monteverdi

    Ariadne's Lament/ Lamento d'Arianna

    Performer: Anna Caterina Antonacci, San Petronio Cappella Musicale Soloists & Sergio Vartolo

    • Monteverdi: Lamenti Barocchi, Vol. 3.
    • Naxos.
    • B000001475.

  • Edward White

    Puffin' Billy

    Orchestra: Melodi Light Orchestra. Conductor: Hubert Clifford.

    Performer: The Melodi Light Orchestra

    • More Vintage Children's Favourites.
    • 2007 CRS Records.
    • Music8408.

  • Khayyam

    Woh Jo Ham Men Tum Men Qarar Tha

    Performer: Begum Akhtar

    • The Very Best - Begum Akhtar.
    • Saregama.
    • 1965.

  • Martin How

    Psalm 16

    Performer: The Choir of Exeter Cathedral, Andrew Millington & Paul Morgan

    • The Complete Psalms of David (Series 2) Volume 1.
    • 2011 Priory Records.
    • B005AF2FL2.

  • Serge Amiano; Eric Durand; Julien Raulet; Rajaneesh Dwivedi; Samuel Devauchelle; David Rekkab; Martial Reverdy

    Kononi

    Performer: Fanga & Maalem Abdallah Guinea

    • Fangnawa Experience.
    • 2012 Strut.
    • B008XFE85C.

  • Bjork and Guy Sigsworth

    Unravel

    Performer: Bjork

    • Homogenic.
    • One Little Indian.
    • B000024U5B.

  • Diego Verdaguer

    En un Hilo

    Performer: Diego Verdaguer

    • Mexicano Hasta las Pampas.
    • Diam Entertainment.
    • B002DTRV80.

  • Pete Seeger

    Oh Had I a Golden Thread

    Performer: Judy Collins

    • Sowing the Seeds - The 10th Anniversary.
    • 2007 Appleseed.
    • APRCD 1102.

Samira's Maze

Samira's Maze

Samira Ahmed photographed the sign on a visit to the Bara Imambara shrine in the city of Lucknow, in Uttar Pradesh, India. Tourists are warned not to enter this enormous three-dimensional maze without a guide.

Samira Ahmed at The South London Gallery

Samira Ahmed at The South London Gallery
Samira looking at artist Pae White's intervention at The South London Gallery. In ‘Taking up the Thread’ Samira thinks about ways we negotiate life’s labyrinths, like Ariadne’s thread, leading Theseus out of the Minotaur’s labyrinth.

Readings

Title: Ariadne’s story from ‘The Greek Myths’

Author: Robert Graves

Publisher: Carcanet Press Ltd

ISBN 978-1857544800

Ìý

Title: Hampton Court Palace Maze poem

From early twentieth century London Transport poster

Ìý

Title: ‘Hibiscus’ (excerpt) from ‘The Florist’s at Midnight’

Author: Sarah Maguire

Publisher: Jonathan Cape

ISBN 78-0224062138

Recording of Sarah Maguire used by permission of The Poetry Archive

Ìý

Ìý

Title: ‘The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: or the Murder at Road Hill House’Ìý

Author: Kate Summerscale

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

ISBN 978-0747596486

Ìý

Title: Visiting from `The Frame of Furnace Light' in the collection "The Monk's Dream"

Author: James Harpur

Publisher: Anvil Press Poetry

ISBN 978-0856462788

Ìý

Title: Words of Guru Nanak from ‘The Sikh Religion: its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors’

Translator: Max Arthur MacAuliffe

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1909Ìý

Out of Print

Ìý

Title: ‘In This Strange Labyrinth’ from ‘

Broadcasts

  • Sun 14 Apr 2013 06:05
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4
  • Sun 14 Apr 2013 23:30
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4
  • Sun 8 Jan 2023 06:05
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4
  • Sun 8 Jan 2023 23:30
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4