Calligraphy: A Scribe's Notes Art Blog
Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart
by calligraphy , April 4, 2008—12:46 PM
A few months ago I received an email about a public art project that fiber artist Sarah Haskell was weaving together. I was so intrigued by the concept that I just had to get involved. As a lettering artist the project hit home as a way to combine art, text, prayer and community. Calligraphers in every culture have a long history of writing on, and infusing into paper messages that are not intended to rest in a gallery, a book, or on someone's wall, but rather sent out as "weathergrams" fiber by fiber, into the wind. Sarah is taking this concept a step further to include thousands of messages interwoven into a unified whole. WOVEN VOICES: MESSAGES FROM THE HEART is inspired by Tibetan prayer flags, Shinto paper prayers, and many other cultures around the world that use cloth and paper in their spiritual practices. Sarah's vision is to collect positive messages of hope, dreams, wishes or prayers from people all over the world. These messages will be written in pieces of paper, which she will cut into strips and weave into brightly colored prayer flags. Her dream is that messages from Iraq will be woven with dreams from Iowa, and hopes from Arizona will be woven with prayers from Pakistan. The more messages she receives, the more flags she can create. As a series of flags is completed, she will send them out. These colorful woven flags will be hung outside in a variety of communities to allow the messages to be released to the universe. As the seasons go by, the flags will fade, and unravel to release the messages of hope, peace and renewal. This project touches humanity on so many levels and speaks to so many issues within and without; our dreaming, our place in the physical world, our relationship with the human tribe to which we belong and to our Divine. Please send Sarah positive messages of hope and renewal, dreams, wishes or prayers written on paper of any size, color and weight. She will cut or fold the paper as necessary to weave it. She would prefer the messages be hand written, but you may e-mail them to her as well. In return she will send you a flag or series of flags to hang in your yard, your town, your school, your city. Once the messages are woven into the flags, they will become unreadable. The text will be transformed into textile. I hope you will join in this community art project. Share this project with your friends and colleagues. Bring it to your classroom, your senior center or your place of worship. On Saturday, April 5 my lettering class, 15 members from The Masscribes and myself will work on brightly colored and beautifully lettered texts to be woven into the flags. www.masscribes.org Sarah will begin to post photos as the project grows. This is an ongoing project until the end of December '08. See more about Woven Voices at www.sarahhaskell.com Send your messages by mail: P.O. Box 452, York ME 03909 By email: sarah@sarahhaskell.com
COMMENTS
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05/07/2008 * 02:45:59
Mary,
What a fabulous, humane endeavor Sarah is creating. I love the concept and will surely pass on the word.
As a calligrapher myself, Society for Calligraphy, Los Angeles, I'm sure our calligraphic community will get on board and contribute. Working at this on a personal level has inspired many new ideas for me in my art and in my life.
Thanks for sharing this.
Renee
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04/06/2008 * 18:06:52
Wonderful project, Mary, and I can see that it is very much in keeping with the things that you do. I will pass the word in my community. I know a couple of people who might like to lead a group in participation.
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04/04/2008 * 16:05:00
I love this idea of messages being cast to the wind. We may be reluctant to verbalize our hopes and dreams but envisioning them floating in the atmosphere lends a bit of conviction that the world can be righted.
Sandy
Lisabeth Billingsley ( homepage )
08/30/2008 * 23:59:46
I couldn't get into Sarah's website, but I will try again. I have many small Tibetan prayer flags tucked into my mixed media art. Some folks have no idea what they are, others love them.
Live in the light
Lisabeth