Linda Brothwell's 'Conversations in Making' commissions conclude
Gifting of Vessels and Launch of New Publication that Celebrate Skills and People of Stonehenge and Amesbury
Linda Brothwell’s exhibition Conversations in Making in 2019 explored the role of craft and traditional skills in contemporary communities and historical figures around Stonehenge and Amesbury
New publication documents the process of creating the artworks and features a poetic response to the work by Holly Corfield Carr
Vessels produced for the exhibition to be distributed back to the craftspeople and artisans who inspired them
Image: Linda Brothwell
Visual artist Linda Brothwell has concluded her programme of commissions, Conversations in Making, with the distribution of the vessels created for the exhibition along with a new publication.
Commissioned by Ginkgo Projects and produced in partnership with English Heritage, Conversations in Making researched and explored the role of craft and traditional skills within the contemporary communities living in and around Amesbury.
Linda explains the methodology behind Conversations in Making, “I work closely with the local craftspeople in a process that I describe as ‘mapping a place’; talking to people about what they do with their hands and with their days.
“In Conversations in Making, I mapped Stonehenge and Amesbury by talking to the people who live and have lived here, whether through real-life dialogues with local makers or imagined exchanges with historical figures such as the Amesbury Archer.
“I am fascinated by how people use their hands and tools to care for and be part of a place: the slow connection that is part of their daily activity, be that cooking, thatching, bookbinding or picture framing. There’s a communication between the object and the individual using them, and a specificity of place that imbues a person with certain characteristics.”
Linda was influenced by the natural materials and textures found in the countryside around Stonehenge and prehistoric artefacts from Wiltshire and Salisbury museums’ rich collections, as well as historical accounts, photographs and drawings. She was particularly inspired by the story of the Amesbury Archer; a man buried with the earliest gold and copper objects, as well as metalworking tools and several beaker pots. He had travelled to Stonehenge from central Europe, bringing with him knowledge of metalworking that transformed prehistoric Britain, and demonstrating that Stonehenge has long been a place of pilgrimage and a transitional space for the exchange of ideas, religions and skills.
These conversations resulted in Linda fabricating 40 vessels using silver, brass, copper and lead, each of which were hand made in response to her research and conversations with local craftspeople. The vessels are therefore inspired by a mix of historical and modern elements, and together they created a visual lexicon that communicates the materials, colours, textures and designs that informed and underpinned the work.
They were exhibited in the first contemporary art exhibition to be held at the visitors’ centre of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in Wiltshire between May and November 2019. The programme also involved the residents of Amesbury in cultural activities in and around the town, as well as attracting new cultural audiences to Amesbury.
Image: Linda Brothwell
The final phase of the programme – that of a new publication and the distribution of the vessels back to the artisans and craftspeople that inspired them – was delayed by COVID-19 but can now take place. The objects will be distributed back into the local community that inspired them – into schools, libraries and perhaps even the local chip shop – where they will be used and loved. They will remain in dialogue with the place they came from and with the people who inspired them, and the conversation will continue.
The accompanying publication documents the process of the conversations and of making the vessels, and features poetry from Holly Corfield Carr that responds to the sonic and haptic processes of Linda’s vessel making. It brings together materials and stories of the craftspeople that Linda talked to during the course of researching Conversations in Making, and it brings all the vessels together in one place after their dispersal back into the community.
Susan Greaney, Senior Properties Historian for English Heritage said, “Linda Brothwell’s 2019 exhibition at Stonehenge, and this extraordinary collection of vessels, have provided new ways to think about archaeological objects from this landscape, linking together the tools and the people who made them in prehistory with craftspeople working in the area today. It’s exciting that these vessels will now be returning to the local community, back into the hands of people who inspired them.”
Linda’s project is part of a wider programme of commissions being delivered by Ginkgo Projects on behalf of Bloor Homes, funded via the planning process for King’s Gate, a new housing development in Amesbury. Read more about Conversations in Making on the project page here.
Image: Jo Hounsome Photography