Linen is perhaps the worlds oldest textile and is derived from varieties of the Flax plant.
Here we take you on a sensory journey, describing the growing cycle, relaying the traditional stages of production and illustrating how this textile is manufactured today using sight, sound, smell and touch. With image, song, scent bottle and touch tray, we pick up the threads of cultural union that tie Scotland into Europe from plant to product.
Sharing Material Culture is the first section of Our Linen Stories exhibition. Regardless of creed or language, some of the elements of our linen heritage are shared across the continent.
Linen is the quintessentially European textile.
The first exhibit in this section is Playing Cards damask linen cloth. Created by Sarah van Gameren and Tim Simpson who have worked with the Tilburg textile museum in the Netherlands.
Also featured is ‘Flax Fields’ by Scottish artist designer Lorna Brown, produced uniquely for our exhibition.
Flax Fields by Lorna Brown
Below you can see a selection of the other exhibits in this first section, ‘Industrious Fibres’.
The Linen Craft
Book by Sarah Popelier (Libeco). ‘Fiber to Fabric’ Pub. Libeco
Flax Pigeon
Pigeon made of linen, filled with flax seeds
Scutched Flax
Scutched flax offered for exhibition by Lisburn Museum
Flax Plant
Flax grown in Edinburgh offered for exhibition by Linda Green
