A sculptural participatory artwork by artists Stone Tellers (Rosalind Fowler and Claudia Palma da Romao), created for the Horniman Museum's 125th anniversary celebrations.

Participants were invited to weave into a large-scale vessel, using locally foraged plant fibres of iris leaves, reed mace, and native English rushes, using traditional basketry techniques. 

The sculpture celebrates mid-Summer, with a sun symbol at the top emerging from out of the basket. The work merges native English weaving techniques, materials and songs, with more mythical meanings, referencing a native American creation myth, in which a person sets out on a journey to learn find the light and encounters many baskets, each containing a sun. 

The piece speculatively imagines processes of renewal through collective action, and the potential to weave new worlds into being through embodied, earth-based practices in times of ecological crisis.  

The basket was made of foraged hazel rods, with all weaving materials foraged from Ruskin Park in SE5, or sourced from Rush Matters in Bedfordshire. 

The weaving sessions were led by Stone Tellers and invited weaver and singer Liz Forrester. Performances included a hand-woven mask and folk songs related to weaving and foraging from the UK. 

The sculpture and basket was constructed in collaboration with carpenter Ed Pearson and Andrew Friend. 

The work forms part of the artists' ongoing research into weaving traditions and critical contemporary perspectives on craft traditions.   

Supported by the Horniman Museum 

Performance image by Joe Walsh.