Magna Carta (An Embroidery) | |
---|---|
Artist | Cornelia Parker |
Year | 2015 |
Type | Embroidery |
Subject | The Magna Carta English Wikipedia article as of 15 June 2014 |
Dimensions | 1.5 m× 13 m(4.9 ft× 43 ft) |
Magna Carta (An Embroidery) is a 2015 work by English installation artist Cornelia Parker. [1] It is an embroidered representation of the complete text and images of an online encyclopedia article for Magna Carta, as it appeared on the English Wikipedia on 15 June 2014, the 799th anniversary of the document. [1]
The hand-stitched embroidery is 1.5 metres (5') wide and nearly 13 metres (42') long. It is a response to the legacy of Magna Carta in the digital era and Parker has referred to it as "a snapshot of where the debate is right now", the result of all open edits by English Wikipedians up to that date. [1] It was commissioned by the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford in partnership with the British Library, [2] after being chosen from proposals from a shortlist of artists in February 2014. [3]
Parker used a screenshot from the 15 June 2014 English Wikipedia article for Magna Carta and printed it onto fabric. Like English Wikipedia, the embroidery was created through the collaboration of many individuals. It was divided in 87 sections and sent to 200 individuals who each hand-stitched portions of the artwork. She sought the collaboration of people and groups that have been affected by and associated with Magna Carta. [4] The majority of the text was sewn by prisoners. [5] Members of the Embroiderers' Guild stitched the images, with at least one embroiderer selected from each region of the UK. [6] Many celebrities and public figures also contributed, stitching phrases or words of special significance to them. [7] Parker has represented the work as "Echoing the communal activity that resulted in the Bayeux Tapestry, but on this occasion placing more emphasis on the word rather than the image, I wanted to create an artwork that is a contemporary interpretation of Magna Carta." [1]
The work includes a tea stain from a prisoner and a spot of blood from Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, who accidentally pricked his finger while sewing. [7]
Parker invited some 200 people to hand-stitch portions of the work including prison inmates, civil rights campaigners, MPs, lawyers, barons and artists. [1] Much of the work was done by 36 prisoners from 13 different prisons in England, under the supervision of the social enterprise Fine Cell Work. [8] Members of the Embroiderers' Guild contributed the images as did students from the Royal School of Needlework and the London embroidery company Hand & Lock.
Six students from La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls' School, London were the youngest contributors to the work. [9]
Parker invited royalty to contribute to the work, but they declined. She said that right-wing people were more likely to decline; both Gordon Brown and Alex Salmond also declined to contribute. [10]
Magna Carta (An Embroidery) formed part of an exhibition celebrating the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. It was displayed in the Entrance Hall of the British Library from 15 May to 24 July 2015, [1] at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, August – November 2016, and in the Blackwell Hall of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, 11 November 2015 – 3 January 2016, touring other United Kingdom locations in the rest of 2016 and 2017. [12] In 2022 it was exhibited at Tate Britain as part of an exhibition of Cornelia Parker's work. [13] From 15 May to 17 September 2023 it was displayed as part of the exhibition To Be Free: Art and Liberty at Salisbury Cathedral. [14]
Embroidery is the art of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to stitch thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on hats, clothing, blankets, and handbags. Embroidery is available in a wide variety of thread or yarn colour. It is often used to personalize gifts or clothing items.
Magna Carta Libertatum, commonly called Magna Carta or sometimes Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Stephen Langton, to make peace between the unpopular king and a group of rebel barons, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift and impartial justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons. Neither side stood by their commitments, and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III, leading to the First Barons' War.
The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) is a hand embroidery school in the United Kingdom, founded in 1872 and based at Hampton Court Palace since 1987.
Appliqué is ornamental needlework in which pieces or patches of fabric in different shapes and patterns are sewn or stuck onto a larger piece to form a picture or pattern. It is commonly used as decoration, especially on garments. The technique is accomplished either by hand stitching or machine. Appliqué is commonly practised with textiles, but the term may be applied to similar techniques used on different materials. In the context of ceramics, for example, an appliqué is a separate piece of clay added to the primary work, generally for the purpose of decoration.
Runnymede is a water-meadow alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, bordering Berkshire and just over 20 miles (32 km) west of central London. It is notable for its association with the sealing of Magna Carta, and as a consequence is, with its adjoining hillside, the site of memorials. Runnymede Borough is named after the area, Runnymede being at its northernmost point.
Magna Carta is the first of a series of constitutional charters in English law.
Cornelia Ann Parker is an English visual artist, best known for her sculpture and installation art.
The Embroiderers' Guild is the UK's leading educational charity promoting embroidery. The New South Wales branch was formed in 1955.
Cutwork or cut work, also known as punto tagliato in Italian, is a needlework technique in which portions of a textile, typically cotton or linen, are cut away and the resulting "hole" is reinforced and filled with embroidery or needle lace.
In embroidery, couching and laid work are techniques in which yarn or other materials are laid across the surface of the ground fabric and fastened in place with small stitches of the same or a different yarn.
Cross stitches in embroidery, needlepoint, and other forms of needlework include a number of related stitches in which the thread is sewn in an x or + shape. Cross stitch has been called "probably the most widely used stitch of all" and is part of the needlework traditions of the Balkans, Middle East, Afghanistan, Colonial America and Victorian England.
An embroidered patch, also known as a cloth badge, is a piece of embroidery which is created by using a fabric backing and thread. The art of making embroidered patches is an old tradition and was done by hand. During the first half of the twentieth century they were commonly embroidered using a shiffli embroidery machine. High-speed, computerized machines have led to mass production.
Valerie Anne Campbell-Harding was an experimental textile art designer and author of 24 books.
English embroidery includes embroidery worked in England or by English people abroad from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day. The oldest surviving English embroideries include items from the early 10th century preserved in Durham Cathedral and the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry, if it was worked in England. The professional workshops of Medieval England created rich embroidery in metal thread and silk for ecclesiastical and secular uses. This style was called Opus Anglicanum or "English work", and was famous throughout Europe.
Bead embroidery is a type of beadwork that uses a needle and thread to stitch beads to a surface of fabric, suede, or leather.
This large, mid-19th century Moroccan wall hanging, or haiti, is a highlight of the textile collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana. Made in the cultural center of Fez, it is crafted of the finest materials: silk velvet embroidered with gold metallic thread.
Parliament in the Making was a programme of events organised by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to commemorate a series of anniversaries in 2015 including:
The 62 Group of Textile Artists is an international group of professional textile artists founded in the United Kingdom in 1962. The group is a Constituted Artists Co-operative, focussed on exhibiting the work of its members in the UK and overseas. Membership of the group is achieved through a selection process. The 62 Group requires members to submit work to a selection panel of their peers for every exhibition "If members fail to submit, or are rejected for three successive exhibitions, then membership is forfeited...a policy which ensures that the group consistently produces exciting work." The increased profile of textile art and its evolution in the latter part of the 20th century "has to a great extent been dictated by members of the 62 Group."
Constance Mildred Howard, later Constance Parker, was an English textile artist and embroiderer who had a profound impact on the development and teaching of those subjects in Britain. The Constance Howard Gallery, part of Goldsmiths, University of London, is named in her honour.
Diana Springall is, according to the Victoria and Albert Museum, "amongst the most well-known of all British textile artists", who has been committed to raising the profile of the contemporary art of embroidery through the Diana Springall Collection. Her work is found in many private and public collections worldwide. As well as creating art and teaching, Springall has held various appointments including chair of both the Embroiderers' Guild and the Society of Designer Craftsmen. Throughout her career, Springall has campaigned for the promotion of embroidery as a true art form. She has assembled the Diana Springall Collection, an extensive collection of contemporary pieces from various artists showcasing embroidery as fine art.