Weaving magic in words, clay and paper
Kathleen Jamie, Jennifer Lucy Allan, Mark Hearld and Naomi Robertson explore the art of creation using clay, thread and words, with Kirsty Wark
The author and poet Kathleen Jamie celebrates a new form of writing – weaving personal notes, prose poems and acts of witness – in her latest book, Cairn. The new collection is a meditation on the preciousness and precariousness of both memory and the natural world.
The broadcaster Jennifer Lucy Allan has taken a closer look at the relationship between humans and the earth in her book Clay. From the first clay tablets to the throwing of pots on a wheel, the history of this everyday material is bound up with our own and the act of creation.
The artist Mark Hearld has a passion for making, from collage to printmaking, sculpture and ceramics. Like Kathleen Jamie he takes inspiration from the flora and fauna of the British countryside. In July he will be working in collaboration with the weavers at Dovecot in Edinburgh to turn his paper collages into a tapestry. Visitors to Dovecot will be able to see Mark and the weavers in action (Mark Hearld: At Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ in Scotland, until July 18th).
The Dovecot Tapestry studio was first established in Scotland in 1912 and today’s master weaver Naomi Robertson looks back at its history. She explains how over the last century expert craftsmen and woman have worked together using the colour and texture of the threads to transform artworks, from one medium – paper or canvas – to another.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Start the Week will be off air until Monday 16th September but you can find hundreds of episodes available on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds and through the programme website.
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- Mon 1 Jul 2024 09:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM
- Mon 1 Jul 2024 21:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM
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Start the Week
Weekly discussion programme, setting the cultural agenda every Monday