Textile story weaves into Inspiring angles podcast series

Monday December 11th 2023

Textiles form a huge part of the history, decoration and story of many churches, including St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, where the Titanic pall, unveiled on the 100^th anniversary of the shipping disaster, tells a very poignant story.

In the newest episode of the Church of Ireland’s Inspiring angles podcast series, Wilma Kirkpatrick, one of the two ladies behind the beautiful deep blue pall, talks about the skills and patterns in textile art, created by her and Helen O’Hare, which currently on display in Belfast Cathedral.

Along with the pall, Wilma and Helen have created a new piece, entitled Revive & Renew, for the second Northern Ireland Linen Biennale – a celebration of the past, present and future of Europe’s oldest textile.

The video interview is now available on the Church’s Facebook, YouTube and Instagram channels. This display can be viewed in the Cathedral until the end of December and is accompanied by an intricate book of test materials, pieces inspired by children’s drawings, and a collection of colourful stoles making use of designs that are familiar to the Cathedral’s visitors and worshippers.

Revive & Renew portrays the displacement of people around the world, and also how people can feel an element of loneliness and isolation in the company of friends and family. The piece conveys the outlines of people, shoulder by shoulder, strength to strength, with elements of clothing applied to create a sense of community.

For further information on the Linen Biennale, visit www.linenbiennalenorthernireland.com

The exhibition can be viewed as part of a self-guided tour of Belfast Cathedral on weekdays, for a small admission fee (£2.50) and readers can find more about visiting the Cathedral at www.belfastcathedral.org/tourism