unravelling the story of string: people, plants and place
String making is one of the fundamental technologies which has allowed us as a species to develop, survive and adapt. This exhibition explores our intertwined relationship with thread, string and rope through 50,000 years of making. String / Lines by Caroline Dear, explores the wider world of string, unravelling information from; the earliest archaeological evidence of string dated to 47,000 years ago, cultural stories, historical myth and from contemporary vestiges.
String seems to have been a medium for the transference of ideas, of holding communities together and of cultural developments. It has directly informed the development of writing, maths, building, measurement, weaving and many other things. It is also more than its physical self and has been instrumental in how we formed our conceptual and metaphysical ideas about the world and in shaping our engagement with it.
The exhibition has five sections and is a meditation and exploration of this ongoing ravelling and unravelling, binding and connecting of the past with the present through string.
String / Lines opens in Gallery 2 this September. Join us for the opening preview on Friday 6th September, at 7.30pm. This event is free and all are welcome.
On Saturday 7th, Caroline Dear and Katharine MacFarlane will lead a String Cèilidh day of talks and workshops on collaborative rope-making and poetry. Spaces for the workshops from 11am-3pm are limited so please book early. The String Cèilidh at 3pm is open to all.
Caroline Dear is an artist based on the Isle of Skye whose work investigates our relationship with the natural world around us. She researches old techniques, gathering strands of practical knowledge to share and keep these simple but vital skills alive.
String / Lines is free to view and suitable for all ages. If you would like to support our continued programming and enable us to keep offering free events, please consider making a donation to Taigh Chearsabhagh.
Image credit: Caroline Dear