The Corryvrechan Tapestry

One of the memorable sights of Edinburgh, for me, was totally unexpected and hanging in the new wing of the National Museum of Scotland -

Obviously by Kate Whiteford - those are "her" colours, "her" shapes - it turned out to be the Corryvrechan Tapestry, woven in 1997 by the Edinburgh Tapestry Company at Dovecote Studios.

Here's a little photo of it being woven, to give you a better idea of its scale -

(via)

and on the museum's label are the weavers, with the artist -

The text on the label reads, in part:

"This tapestry was commissioned as part of a scheme to integrate contemporary art into the Museum of Scotland displays. The title of the work refers to the notorious whirlpool to the north of the island of Jura and draws on the artist's fascination with signs and symbols of ancient civilisations.

"Whiteford feels that the tapestry 'reflects the potential energy of both ancient and modern cross currents in the Museum and in contemporary society'. The design highlights links between the Museum's collections and the building, for example the runes at the base of the tapestry refer to our archaeological collections."

Of course I had to buy her book -

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