The Big Weave Pilot Project - the Two Rivers Tapestry
Championed by Maiden Erlegh School Community Arts, The Big Weave began in Reading. Mentored and guided by Thoma Ewen from The Moon Rain Centre, Gatineau, Quebec. Thoma visited the UK for three weeks of weaving and sharing expertise with local communities as we, ‘The Big Weavers’ skilled-up in the craft of collaborative community tapestry weaving. The design for the inaugural Big Weave tapestry was inspired by the work of Reading artist Peter Hay, founder of Two Rivers Press.
Images show the preparation of the warp, using the design to create a scaled cartoon, following the cartoon to transfer the design onto the warp and starting to weave in the weft. Click on an image to enter gallery.
Alongside the community loom Thoma hosted a workshop at Maiden Erlegh School for teachers, weavers and craftspeople. The small frame looms were constructed as a live brief by Maiden Erlegh Design and Technology students and were put to full use during the project. Click on image to view gallery
The Big Weave goes on the Road
The large community loom is designed to break down into three component parts while there is work in progress on the loom. In this way the work can be taken to a new venue and communities can build on the work down by other communities, pulling groups together with common a thread.
The photo gallery shows work down by Festival goers at Henley Festival, Henley-on-Thames, the Alfred Sutton School community in Reading, and visitors to Art in Action in Oxfordshire. We worked on the barge on the riverbank at Henley, ‘built’ the red-brick houses with school children and the constructed the bridge at Art in Action.
Back at Maiden Erlegh School Community Arts the finishing touches were added to the tapestry and finally the warp threads were cut and the tapestry released from the loom. Meridian TV was there to record the big moment.
