Yan Tan Tethera

Curated by David Littler
Cecil Sharp House – the north London home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) – Camden, London NW1
15 May – 25 September 2014

pocky
Collection of Knitted Folk Objects – Pocky, 2014, machine knitted wool, reclaimed knitting needles, 700 × 400 × 120 mm

cecil
Collection of Knitted Folk Objects – Cecil, 2014, machine knitted wool, reclaimed knitting needles, wood, 240 × 100 × 1220 mm

mother
Collection of Knitted Folk Objects – Mither, 2014, machine knitted wool, reclaimed wooden walking stick with metal badges, stones, 1050 × 160 × 100 mm. Private Collection

walkin-stick
Collection of Knitted Folk Objects – Walkin-Stick, 2014, machine knitted wool, reclaimed bamboo walking stick, rubber ferrule, expanding foam

oldnannywitchdetail
Collection of Knitted Folk Objects – Old Nanny Witch , 2014, machine knitted wool, reclaimed wooden walking stick, stones, ribbon, kilt pin, 500 × 100 × 980 mm. Private Collection

Yan Tan Tethera – which is a traditional sheep counting system used predominantly in the north of England as well as a way to count stitches in knitting – explores, shares and brings to life some of the songs and dances that have eminated from, and been inspired by, England’s textiles industry. 

Spanning five months, the wider Yan Tan Tethera project, a season of performances, events, workshops and exhibition, takes over Cecil Sharp House and spills into the local Camden area.

Freddie Robins’s finished works are heavily influenced by the old children’s rhyme, “Tell-tale tit”. It is the ultimate playground insult, you have a disabled father who cannot walk, even with a walking stick, and a mother who cannot knit!

“Tell-tale tit, yer mither cannae knit,
Yer father cannae walk wi a walkin-stick.”

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Cabinet of Textile Folk Curiosities, 2014
“The Cabinet of Textile Folk Curiosities contain an eclectic and idiosyncratic collection of objects and research relating to songs and dances found in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library here at Cecil Sharp House, the Full English Digital Archives and beyond. The main focus of my research has been around the theme of knitting but has also gone on to encompass the broader subject of textiles, fibre and textile production. My research has also strayed into other areas of personal interest; my home village of Rottingdean in East Sussex, (also home to the famous Copper Family), the much maligned county of Essex where I now live, places that I have visited and to where I have an emotional bond, witches and witchcraft and the sensational murders immortalized in the popular Broadside Ballads. My research, love of wooden soled footwear and desire to spend more time immersed in the activities of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) at Cecil Sharp House has also seen me start clog dancing classes with Camden Clog.”

The other Yan Tan Tethera artists are Shane Waltener, Prick Your Finger (Rachael Matthews), Stewart Easton, Celia Ward, the McGrath Makers’ Group, and artists from the collective sampler-cultureclash – Jason Singh, Hector MacInnes, Anne Martin and Aimee Leonard.

Yan Tan Tethera is curated by David Littler, promoted by the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) and supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Yan Tan Tethera on film
Filmed and edited by Roswitha Chesher

Studio photography: Douglas Atfield

textilefolksong.co.uk

20 September 2014

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