Commonwealth 2014 – not just about the Games!
After seven years of planning and preparation the 20th Commonwealth Games open in Glasgow this evening. We were lucky enough to have the Queen’s Baton Relay pass by our home on Monday, carried by champion Boccia player Stephen McGuire. I’ll be cheering him on over the next couple of weeks.
Stephen McGuire carrying the baton
However there’s more to Glasgow 2014 than sport. The city is hosting an extensive programme of cultural and artistic events too, much of it free, and some of it is about textiles. As this is a loosely textile craft based blog here are a couple of my favourite things to see this summer.
Our neighbour St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral is currently exhibiting beautifully stitched tapestry panels sent in by schoolchildren from all over the Commonwealth, plus several schools in Scotland. Each panel is one metre square – that’s a lot of stitching! Themed around the months and seasons where each panel was made, the work is full of joy and colour. It’s my ‘must see’ hot pick for the summer. I tried to capture each panel with my camera here but the pictures don’t do justice to the scale, detailing, colour and texture. You’ll have to visit St Mary’s and see them for yourself. Admission is free and the exhibition runs until August 18th.
It’s impossible to pick a favourite panel so I chose one at random!
Glasgow welcomes Doors Open every September, a festival celebrating built heritage. As it’s a special year we were treated today to an extra Wee Doors Open, so I visited Govan Old Church to see the textile screen recently created and installed by Weaving Truth with Trust. The screen commemorates Govan’s tradition of textile manufacture and is made from translucent white lace mirroring knotwork carved into the hogsback stones metres away. Ribbons of ogham, Norwegian (Old Norse) runic, Gaelic and English text snake around the edge of the panel, reflecting the varied linguistic and ethnic heritages of the Kingdom of Strathclyde. The panel is downlit and this has the dual effect of showing the delicate patterning to its best advantage and also hinting at something ethereal and otherwordly. The screen partially occludes the sightline into the lady chapel without blocking it altogether, adding to the sense of mystery. A performance today by the Scottish Plainsong Choir of Medieval Hymns and Antiphons greatly enhanced the experience.
Inside Govan Old Church, with a hogsback stone in the foreground
I rounded the day off with a trip to the Magpie’s Eye Gallery opposite Govan Old Church, one of Glasgow’s finest charity shops full of vintage linen and sewing notions, stylish second hand furniture, locally produced art and craft and some cracking banter with the staff. The shop supports Starter Packs, which provides packs of household items for people making the transition from homelessness to taking up their first tenancy. This is the Glasgow I know and love; good humour and nae nonsense in equal measure.
makeitglasgow 