Somerset Art Works Creative Director, Carey Carey, always has her eye a few years ahead, developing ideas, partnerships and fundraising for SAW projects. Spinning a Yarn has been germinating and growing for some time. An early conversation with South West Heritage Trust CEO, Sam Astill, kindled a desire to celebrate the legacy of the domestication of sheep in the county, in relation to the social, cultural and economic richness Somerset. Over the centuries Somerset has been noted for the production of different cloths – wool, linen, and silk, benefiting from natural resources of water, soils and animals, combined with the skills needed to turn the raw materials into fabric.

Since the Somerset Rural Life Museum reopened in 2017, Somerset Art Works has worked together with South West Heritage Trust for each Somerset Art Weeks Festival year, to create a programme celebrating the best of Somerset rural art and culture, past and present. Aligned with the Somerset Art Weeks 2024 theme Landscape – Flux and Flow, we investigate changes to our local landscapes and relationships with the land in light of the inescapable, ever growing urgency of the climate crisis.

With all this in mind, Carol set off on a period of research and exploration, reacquainting herself with a variety of artists, makers conservation managers and sheep farmers across the county.  Exploring the heritage of the landscape, skills and identity helps us to not lose touch with just how connected we are to other lifeforms, and to consider how we nurture our future relationship with the countryside.

Craftspace Director, Deirdre Figueiredo, first introduced SAW to  artist curator  Trevor Pitt in 2015. Trevor has been capturing the stories of sheep farmers and artists who work with their fleeces for over 15 years. His ‘Yarning’ projects have included community knitting, sculptural objects, a play, an online performance and a series of podcasts. So this presented the ideal opportunity to invite Trevor to carry on the journey here in Somerset and work with us on developing Spinning a Yarn.

The exhibition at Somerset Rural Life Museum will feature major new commissions by artists Nicola Turner and Trevor Pitt, to be displayed in the historic Abbey Barn. Nicola Turner’s large-scale installation will explore our innate human connection to wool, the stories that are interwoven in it and the emotions, as a material, that it provokes. Her work can be seen in the Royal Academy Courtyard as part of the prestigious Summer Exhibition.

Trevor Pitt’s film ‘Somerset Yarning’ will capture the personal stories of sheep farmers and artists who work with their fleeces. Opening at daybreak in the Mendips and closing at dusk in the Quantocks, the film follows how the fleeces from Fernhill Farm are carded, spun, felted and woven by artists from across the county.

Alongside the commissions there will be a rich display of museum objects, oral archives, a community artwork installation plus contemporary work created using wool by Somerset-based artists and makers. An exciting programme of talks, workshops and family activities offer opportunities for all ages to explore this fascinating material.
We hope to see you at the Somerset Rural Life Museum in September and October!

Spinning a Yarn – Take Part invites you to explore using natural, renewable, biodegradable, and sustainable wool as a craft material. You can contribute to the community exhibition at the Somerset Rural Life Museum in September as part of Somerset Art Weeks Festival. More info here