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tiny little sketches, painting, photographs, and collages, which we have to interpret with them. We have very traditional crafts and we work with very contemporary artists, but they do seem to get along well!” “We value the conversation between artists and weavers,” underlines Weir. “It brings something new into our world. Musicians, painters, designers, they all bring different perspectives and something unexpected into the conversation. This continues to update the Studio: the heritage is maintained, but the work is new.” In 2008, for instance, Dovecot worked with the Henry Moore Foundation to showcase the artist’s textile designs. “Henry Moore worked with Dovecot in 1950 to create a tapestry: he went on to work with the silk screen printing process and created an extraordinary collection of scarves. The exhibition allowed to examine his working in a different way: scales began to fall from the public’s eyes, recognising that he was not only a sculptor but a creative person, exploring different materials and different media.” Selecting the colours is of capital importance. “We actually mix and blend the colours on our wooden bobbins, to have variations,” explains Robertson. “We rarely weave with a flat colour. This helps to give subtleties, and gives more depth to the tones, making them come alive. A great deal
of blending is necessary.” Weavers have their own favourite bobbins (“they get better with age and usage,” confirms Naomi Robertson) and work individually. “But we are always checking on each other’s mixtures, nuances or colours. It is a constant team effort,” she explains. Weavers never cut the tapestry from the loom – they see this as bad luck. They use traditional techniques, developed over the 100 years of Dovecot’s history. “We use wools, cottons and linens and occasionally silks and metallic yarns, to achieve the desired effect.” In 2013, Naomi Robertson worked in collaboration with painter Alison Watt on a commission for the Scottish Opera: the tapestry was named “Butterfly,” which took three weavers 10 months to accomplish. The opening of the completed “Butterfly” was very moving for all the weavers involved: “it is always a big moment.” As David Weir explains, “it is all about hands, heart and head working together. There is no digital work here: the weaving hands create a magic in the mind. This is what is, and has always been, very meaningful.” All the Dovecot creations are marked with a symbol representing the 16th-century stone pigeon house, located in the grounds of the Studio’s first home in Corstorphine. The weaver’s initials are present on the front or on the back of the tapestry. The Dovecot Gallery is open to the public from Monday to Saturday and the Tapestry Studio viewing balcony is also accessible on specific days. When the Studio was opened, in 2008, it was visited by approximately 5,000 people a year, steadily growing to 45,000 in 2014. The cultural activities that Dovecot regularly organises are a source of both creative and financial oxygen for the Foundation. Dovecot is now working on the biggest tapestry ever: 50 linear metres designed for a new building that will be completed in 2016. David Weir’s great ambition for contemporary tapestry is to keep it alive in a meaningful way, so that “nobody will look at these tapestries without stopping to consider what has gone into them. At the moment, we are beginning to enjoy a really busy time: we have a two-year waiting list of bookings for new commission.”
Above, David Weir, Dovecot director. Opposite page, from top: Rudi Richardson, weaver; Alison Watt and Naomi Robertson with “Butterfly” tapestry. Measuring 5.6 by 4.2 metres, the tapestry took three weavers 10 months to accomplish.
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