Industrial heritage celebrated
Textiles are medium for new exhibition of work inspired by town’s industrial heritage
OBJECTS, photographs and stories which capture a community’s rich past are breathing new life into the old adage ‘a stitch in time’ this month.
In a unique collaboration between embroiderers, textile artists and local historians, Re-addressing the Archive delves into the heritage of Kirkintilloch and the surrounding areas for the latest co-curated exhibition at the Town Hall.
Artist/maker Myra Ostacchini has teamed up with Kirkintilloch Embroiderers’ Guild for the display, which brings together the highly-developed needlework skills of the Guild and Myra’s crossdisciplinary approach to textiles.
The exhibition was inspired by items from East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Archives and collections – including Lion Foundry patterns and famous red telephone boxes, Roman history, fine lace and lappet work, temperance memories, Campsie Ware pottery and more.
The resulting works offer a contemporary take on heritage, developing traditional embroidery skills into new and diverse forms.
All have been skilfully made by machine or hand, introducing people to the beauty and inherent magic of making.
Participants from the local branch of the Embroiderers’ Guild included June Allison, Ruth Blakey, Ishbel Buck, Eleanor Cordiner, Pamela Diffin, Susan Gray, Jane Logan, Maris MacNab, Jean Pless and Louise Reid.
June Allison was inspired to create Railings after looking into the town’s famous Lion Foundry pattern books and the many designs for decorative ironwork – from gates to railings and bandstands – the company produced.
Pamela Diffin also took inspiration from the Lion Foundry with Four Seasons, based on the Four Seasons pattern hanging in the Auld Kirk Museum In her richly detailed work, Red Telephone Box, Jean Pless uses a diversity of stitches to relay evocative, highly-personal memories of contact with ‘home’.
“In the days before mobile phones, the red telephone box was synonymous with calling family,” she explained.
Lion Foundry workers inspired Maris MacNab and Louise Reid. The latter has created Bandstand, a highly evocative, intricate work.
“It’s a reminder of the town’s Victorian era and richness of its social spaces,” she said.
Louise has also focussed on temperance – her miniature work, Tea Set is a reminder of Kirkintilloch’s dry period.
A piece of Campsie Ware, the distinctive pottery associated with the area, inspired
‘‘ It’s a reminder of the town’s Victorian era and richness of its social spaces
Ishbel Buck.
“I found it, relegated to the back of a shelf and it inspired me to come up with Bird, which evolved and was given new life through reverse appliqué, machine stitching and hand embroidery, combined with different fabrics to help illustrate the rich Campsie Ware colours and lustre,” she said.
Jane Logan created Mining Banner as a tribute to the mining communities of Kirkintilloch.
“It’s dedicated to their contribution to the cultural life of Scotland,” she said.
“It is a symbol recognising the gratitude owed to miners and their families.”
Susan Gray’s Caerpentalloch goes back to a much earlier history of the area and its rich Roman artefacts and connections, while the town’s weaving heritage is at the centre of Ruth Blakey’s Lappet,.
The latter takes its inspiration from a ‘delicate survivor’ of Kirkintilloch’s important weaving history.
“At one time there would have been many hundreds of weavers in the area, a number of them lappet makers and clippers,” she said.
Myra’s own work for the exhibition, using textiles collected from Kirkintilloch charity shops, explores the history of local weaving, mills and looms, foundries and ceramics.
Her works, Th-red room, Kirkin-talisman and the textile drawing 16.35M all aim to bring Kirkintilloch’s industrial past to life and 16.35M is based on Myra’s mapping, measurement and scale of a former existing weaving room – now Wagtail Pet Supplies.
The exhibition also includes a newly-commissioned film on drawing and textile work by Glasgow School of Art graduate Myra, who is running free workshops to accompany the display, Experimental Textiles, on October 20,and Thinking Through Drawing on October 26.
Councillor Susan Murray, Vice Convener of Place, Neighbourhood and Corporate Assets said: “This collaboration shows once again the importance of the EDLC Archives, which offer inspiration from the past on a range of subjects.”
Re-addressing the Archive runs until December 11.
• Share your memories of growing up or working in Kirkintilloch’s key industries by emailing ann.fotheringham@heraldandtimes.co.uk