Canada Council for the Arts

Needlework

 

 

Needlework

Flax farming and linen manufacturing were iconic to the industrialisation of the North of Ireland, particularly in the eighteenth century. A handkerchief is a sign of grieving and hankies were traditionally exchanged between loved ones as heartfelt goodbye gifts. You can watch: Prof. Rev. James Haire's fascinating and informative opening speech for the Linen Memorial which describes the relevance of linen to Northern Ireland.

The hand embroidery of the names was completed
from 2002 - 2009

Embroiderers around the world:

Allen, Edith Arney, Suzanne Smith
Barman, Margaret Benson, Nerida Richmond
Bernett, Kathy Boni, Maria
Bovard, Julia Colleary, Máirín
Cunningham, Dr. Jo Lynn Damon, Margot Charlotte (McGladdery)
Duffy-Biro, Jean Ferguson, Glenys (Richmond)
Garofalo, Gen Gillick, Marjorie
Gobold, Ann Grealis, Bridget
Kim Bear Malia, Jim, Julia and Sarah
Manwaring, Lyn McCormick, Patricia
McFadden, Rosaleen McRobb, Jan
Miller, Hanne Molloy, Janet
Morriott, Edith Morris, Jane
Murphy, Lizz Osborne, Jean
Read, Joy Reid, Sheila
Russell, Janet Steele, Connie
Sterling, Jan Spielman, Lucy McCarthy
Trouton, Maureen Ann Salus (McGladdery) Tenant, Alex
Whyte, Judy Young, Jennifer

Thank you to:

Friends of Corrymeela, Ballycastle, Northern Ireland
Friends of Ireland, Canberra, ACT, Australia
U.K. Embroiderers’ Guild, Birmingham, England
The Irish Society, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
USA Global Volunteers to Corrymeela Community, Ballycastle, June 2008
USA Groves Conference on the Family,
N. Ireland tour 2008 - trauma in community.
Yass Public Library, NSW, Australia.

Linens

Linens is a 10 minute DVD created from 2005 documentary footage of a Sydney-based “bedroom” conversation (March 2005) between Mrs. Margaret Barman, Australia (migrated from Omagh 1957) and Mrs. Maureen Trouton, Canada (migrated from Belfast 1970) – Produced by Lycia Trouton and directed, edited by storytelling and documentary film professional, Len Glasser of Lensvision, NSW, Australia and NYC.

Artistic precedents for large-scale public needlework projects:

For example, wartime quilts and the contemporary Ribbon-Around-the-Pentagon  organised by Justine Merritt; The Crystal Quilt directed by Suzanne Lacy, USA, mid-1980s; The Dinner Party by sculptor Judy Chicago, USA, 1970s, and The Parliamentary House Embroidery : Embroiderers' Guilds of Australia, 1988; Goldsmiths Prof. Janet Jefferies and the 'textile arts' fence at Greenham Common, 1984; Roses-from-the-Heart, the 2007 Australian bonnet project by artist Christina Henri, MCA, commemorating the passage of women convicts.
Saidie Patterson, Belfast Peace Activist well-known for her work with mixed communities of working-class women, first female Linen & Textiles Trade Unionist, Saidie Patterson (1906 - 1985)
Linen Thread

Music Composition 

© 2001 - 2012 Lycia Trouton