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the Spirit of the Celts

A collaborative exhibition between three nations
THE TALE OF how 26 quiltmakers, scattered across the furthest reaches of the British Isles, created a collection of work without ever meeting as a complete group, might sound like the plotline of a Celtic legend. This, however, is how the exhibition The spirit of the Celts by The Celtic Fringe group came into being, demonstrating how, using modern methods of communication, quiltmakers can collaborate at a distance and end up with a successful show at the Festival of Quilts and a two-year international touring exhibition. The origins of The Celtic Fringe go back to the very first Festival of Quilts in 1999 when Margaret Woodside from Northern Ireland and Jan Watson from scotland got off the same London bus, asked each other for directions and then found their way to Lords Cricket ground together. They continued to meet spontaneously at other quilt events, even turning up at the same workshop in Houston one year, but the idea for a crossborder project only came after The Festival of Quilts 2007 when quilters from the Celtic nations Northern Ireland, Wales and scotland won first, second and third places, respectively, in the group competition. Margaret

this page, Scotland top:

Scathach by Margaret
Morrow, turning Point left:

eilean Fhionnain by Alison

Drayson, turning Point right:

lunar Calendar by Mary

ennis, turning Point

Opposite page, ireland top left:

the Dark Hedges, Armoy by

Jane Caldwel, loose threads top right:

An Fia Ban by Margaret

McCrory, loose threads Bottom:

Something Fishy by
Margaret Woodside, loose threads

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Woodside of Loose Threads made the initial suggestion and it was immediately taken up by Turning point from scotland. The Cauldron group from Wales unfortunately already had other commitments and felt unable to take on more, so Judith Barker gathered a new group of quilters together (which included Dorothy russell from the Cauldron group) who adopted the name Cwilt Cymru. Our original theme was Myths and Legends. The general idea was that we would seek inspiration from our individual national cultural history and the stories from our childhoods with which we had all grown up. Initial research reminded us that many of the stories were not national but were part of a shared Celtic heritage, particularly between scotland and Ireland, but also between Wales and scotland, strathclyde having been a Welsh-speaking region at one time. We agreed a less specific theme The spirit of the Celts,

which we felt would embrace myth, legend and any other aspect of our cultural history that might inspire the individual artist. To give the exhibition a physical cohesion when hung in a gallery, we agreed that all the quilts would be 45in high and between 24 and 36in wide. However, technique and colour was left totally to each individual quilter. Agreement from Andrew salmon (Managing Director of Festival of Quilts organisers Creative Exhibitions) to premiere our completed collection at Festival of Quilts 2011 provided a focus and a timescale. geography and distance required us to maximise the use of modern technology to keep in touch, monitor progress and deal with inevitable hiccoughs, although some of us did meet up at the guild Conference and at Festival of Quilts 2009. As our confidence in the working arrangement grew, we sought other exhibition venues and have

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Image courtesy of Dorothy russell

now arranged to take the show to France, Northern Ireland and Wales. (From November 2011 to January 2012 we had a very successful exhibition in stirling. The local gallery hosted an opening reception with a Celtic-themed buffet, and Celtic music was provided during the evening by a local clarsach player, which was very atmospheric.) Unlike Turning point and Loose Threads, who had experience of working together as exhibiting groups, the Welsh group Cwilt Cymru was formed specifically for this project. Although known to each other by reputation, most of this group had not met each other before. We were scattered north, south, east and west, although we did meet up several times at quilt events or at Judith Barkers home (conveniently situated in midWales) to share lunch, discuss our quilts progress and to get to know each other. We created our own Yahoo! email group, which became our main means of communication for messages, files of information and images of our work. Email also became the means by which the three groups kept in touch with

each other as the exhibition began to take shape. We used Contemporary Quilts brilliant idea and created three handling books to accompany the exhibition. Each quilter made an A4 sample showing the techniques and materials used in their quilt; these went into a file with information explaining the inspiration and background to each quilt. Visitors to the exhibition at the Festival of Quilts found the handling books fascinating and a valuable addition to their experience of viewing the quilts. Cwilt Cymru expressed a wish that the wall labels for the exhibition should be in both the relevent Celtic language and English, and the scottish and Northern Irish groups readily agreed. The quilts themselves reflect the individuality and diversity of their makers, and yet they are bound by common threads of a shared culture. Many pieces were inspired by the rich inheritance of legends and beliefs the power of the rowan tree and the Celtic head, the Celtic lunar calendar, the children of Lir, Lough Erne, st patrick, fairy worlds, Tir na Nog, Finn McCool,

Wales, from the left:

Gododdin by Bethan
Hughes, Cwilt Cymru

Branwen 2 by Dorothy
russell, Cwilt Cymru

Pen ac enaid by Judy

Stephens, Cwilt Cymru

this article was also a collaborative effort; thanks are extended to Judith Barker, dorothy russell, Jan Watson and margaret Woodside for their help.

the Mabinogions Branwen, mermaids, kelpies, sea-monsters and warrior queens. Five pieces refer to the enigmatic Celtic carved standing stones and later Celtic crosses; others refer to historical events such as Viking raids, the oldest Welsh poem and Owain glyndwrs uprising; and some to surviving artefacts such as the st Ninian hoard, the Trawsfynydd tankard and other buried treasures. The project shows that quilters scattered across different nations can work together and achieve a fabulous result. We hope that there will be future opportunities to collaborate again and to keep the Celtic torch burning brightly. Bethan M. Hughes

The Spirit of the Celts will be on show at the following venues: 1215 April: Quilt Expo en Beaujolais, France 131 August: Strule Arts Center, Omagh, Northern Ireland 228 September: Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart, Northern Ireland 3 August 15 September 2013: Oriel Ynys Mn, Anglesey, Wales Additional venues may be arranged, so keep an eye out in the Diary listings.

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