Stigmata Forks, Somerset Rural Life Museum

The title ‘Gather-ing’ references the function of a barn as a space to collect/bring/gather people, animals and crops, as well as a symbolic meeting place to gather for ritual celebration. The commissioned artworks were exhibited as part of Somerset Art Weeks 2017 in the magnificent fourteenth century Abbey Barn at the Somerset Rural Life Museum in Glastonbury. In 2015 artists Stewart Easton and associates, Jacky Oliver, Helen Snell, Gillian Widden and Christopher Jelley were commissioned to make new work in response to the large tithe barn at Stoke Sub Hamdon Priory. Curated by Craftspace, initiated by Somerset Art Works in partnership with the National Trust. The project showcases contemporary craft: makers, skills, materials and thinking. The aspiration of Somerset Art Works was to ‘inspire and challenge’ audiences and ‘raise the quality of craft made and seen in Somerset’ by engaging craft practitioners with a track record of excellence and ability to make creative, imaginative and innovative responses to the site and brief. Follow the artists blog at www.gather-ing.tumblr.com