The Scottish Diaspora Tapestry At Helmsdale

2nd November 2014

Helmsdale Community Centre, Dunrobin Street, Helmsdale
28 October - 9 November 2014
Monday to Friday 1.00 - 5.00pm
Saturday 10.00 - 5.00pm.

A project to involve communities around the world in the celebration of Scottish heritage and culture.

Scotland's global legacy as it has never been seen before, stitched by Diaspora communities in 25 countries across the world!

The Scottish Diaspora Tapestry is the creation of Prestoungrange Arts Festival in Prestonpans with key support from Barons Courts of Prestoungrange & Dolphinstoun, hundreds of stitchers and Scotophiles globally, CreativeScotland, the Scottish Government's Diaspora Division, VisitScotland, EventScotland, University of the West of Scotland, and Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

Scots have migrated all over the world and have often had a profound impact on the areas where they settled. This project will see 25 such communities documenting their Scottish connections on a series of embroidered panels. Their combined stories will pay homage to the incredible determination and courage of Scots over the centuries.

Led by the team behind the magnificent Battle of Prestonpans Tapestry, the Scottish Diaspora Tapestry is to be created by volunteers in communities across the globe. It will be assembled and displayed in Scotland as part of the 2014 Homecoming celebrations.

The Guide Book

The Scottish Diaspora Tapestry brings extraordinary tales back home to Scotland. Tales of Scots' accomplishments across the world after they left their homes to build new lives often many thousand miles away. Clearly they and their descendants today never lost a deeply held pride in Scotland's culture and its democratic ideals: they took with them their religion, skills in medicine, engineering, botany, education, administration, agriculture and more besides.

Hundreds of stitchers in twenty five countries have volunteered thousands of hours to craft the panels pictured in this book. In every one of the panels their diaspora tales unfold whether it be of the arrival of tea in India, the creation of a steel works in Corby England, military leadership in Sweden and Russia, national parks and tobacco growing in the USA, sugar plantations in Jamaica or the gold rush in Australia. More often than not Scot's presence around the world stimulated migration to Scotland by the peoples they lived amongst, creating 'reverse' diaspora from countries such as Italy, Lithuania, India and Poland.

This ambitious international artwork was conceived and led by the Prestoungrange Arts Festival in Prestonpans as successor/encore to The Battle of Prestonpans Tapestry. The appetite for great embroideries, which that 104 metre tale of Bonnie Prince Charlie's campaign to regain the throne for the Stuarts in 1745 has stimulated, demanded no less. its creation was deliberately time to coincide with Homecoming 2014. Furthermore, as can be seen in the text of this book, it champions use of the Gaelic language which many who created Scotland's diaspora spoke when they left its shores. Beathag Mhoireasdan has made all the translations provided

Historical and image research was undertaken by individuals and communities across the globe and in Prestonpans, to provide the bases for the designs all of which have been created by Andrew Crummy. Leadership amongst the stitchers, line and wool shipping, stretching and backing of the panels, and the gently administration of the project were the roles of Gillian Hart and Yvonne Murphy. Fund raising, exhibitions, publicity, website, facebook and finally editing this volume just in time in close partnership with John Unwin] have been the responsibility of Arran Johnston and Gordon Prestoungrange.

Web site
http://www.scottishdiasporatapestry.org/announcements/moving-north-to-sutherland