The Whangarei Community Tapestry

Re: The Whangarei Community Tapestry

On Saturday 11th June the Honourable Sheryl Mai, Mayor of Whangarei, accepted, on behalf of the City, a magnificent gift in the form of a monumental tapestry which took over 3 years to complete and is valued in many tens of thousands of dollars.

The tapestry entitled “Whangarei Our Place” was the result of an initiative by local artist Jackie Addenbrooke who approached THE BACH, a Northland Artists Cooperative based in the Town Basin, with a request to dedicate some of their gallery space to a major community project. Her intention was to design a tapestry that would engage both local weavers and the community at large in its creation.

An enormous and unique loom was designed and built by Glenda (founder of The Bach) and Brian Ferguson for the project, beautiful yet sturdy enough to withstand the stress of having the 2nd biggest tapestry ever created in New Zealand woven on it. Led by Beverly Compter, a member of The Bach and a professional Master Weaver a group of weavers from the Whangarei Creative Fibre group did the majority of the weaving. Over the course of the 3 years it took to complete the project, several thousand people (locals and visitors) just sat down with the weavers and “did a bit” themselves under supervision. The whole project was documented on a blog and a Facebook page by a dedicated member of The Bach, Julia Prentice. Despite a huge setback in April 2015, when Beverley Compter was suddenly taken ill and passed away, the remaining weavers stepped up and finished the tapestry in record time.

This magnificent work of art now hangs in the foyer of Forum North, Rust Avenue, for all to admire, enjoy and celebrate the community effort that has gone in to it.

For a selection of images please go to http://whangareicommunitytapestry.blogspot.co.nz/

ENDS

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