CURATED NEWS JULY 2024
I N S I G H T
Experience the revolutionary woven forms of fiber artist Lenore Tawney, whose practice redefined the possibilities of weaving.
Learn about The Eider Keepers of Vega archipelago in the Norwegian Sea.
Contemplate ideas of living heritage and the historical present in the architecture of luminary Lina Bo Bardi.
Lina Bo Bardi's SESC Pompéia, Sao Paulo, Lenore Tawney's In Fields of Light.
C O N N E C T
Discover The Craft Atlas, an open access platform for global craft knowledge, techniques & makers.
Trace the haunting and unapologetic dialogue Earth art pioneer Ana Mendieta held with the natural world.
Visit this mesmerising exhibition of indigenous histórias in Bergen, Norway, reclaiming and reframing indigenity in the Americas, Oceania and the Nordic region.
Venture into the unknown in Fire of Love, celebrating the life of daring French volcanologist couple Katia and Maurice Krafft, who roamed the planet, chasing eruptions and documenting their discoveries.
One of 200 of Ana Mendeita's ephemeral earth body sculptures, in her Siluetas series
N O U R I S H
Immerse into the ancient craft and traditions the river people of Chad observe along the banks of the River Sharry.
Follow along the mountain paths of artist Alex Cecchetti with Sentiero, a readaptation of performances and conversations on more than human presences and ecologies.
Attend this lecture at St Ethelburga exploring forms of Time that transcend the linear, to reweave our relation with the Earth.
The river people of Chad, 1969
L O C A L N E W S
Moving Camp ~
At this time each year, Ritoma pastors move their sheep and yak to Chakka, the furthest of the grazing areas, about 20 kilometers from Ritoma village. The pasture will be at its most lush and a feast for the animals. Nomads arrange their tents in groups, usually on a southern-facing slope, which gives them a view of their flocks. At night, they gather the sheep into a pen near their tent to protect them from wolves and tether the female yaks for their morning milking. The summer move is done in one go; in the past, yaks were loaded with folded-up tents, kitchen utensils, and other daily necessities, but nowadays, the preferred vehicle is the three-wheeler blue camel.
Laptse ~
The big laptse marks the beginning of each summer. It is an opportunity for people to dress in their finest and gather from near and far. It begins with an offering to the local deities, morning prayers performed by the monks of Ritoma monastery and is followed by horse races and various local games. These celebrations can last as long as three days, marked by feasts of momos and boiled meat shared with friends and family. This is seen as a celebration of summer – a short and much prized period on the plateau where the weather is mild, the days long and the pasture is a green expanse peppered in multicolored wild flowers.
Yutrul, or cleansing of the land ~
In Ritoma, there is a sacred spot in the farthermost pasture, the abode of a local deity, where monks come yearly to perform a ritual cleansing of the land. The ritual seeks forgiveness for any infractions against the environment and those that dwell on it and brings favorable conditions to the people and animals that depend on the grassland for survival.
