Basic Details:
Dates: 27 June- 31 July 2015 (5 week program)
Location: London-area, UK
Course Credits: 6 total (two 3 credit courses)
United Kingdom Stitching a Cultural Identity Brochure
Program Introduction:
Embroidery has served as an important aspect of British history since the early Roman times. Secluded from the rest of mainland Europe, it saw embroidery flourish to new technical and artistic heights in the early Middle Ages producing some of the most prized pieces of ecclesiastical embroidery of the time known today as Opus Anglicanum. Through the years as the United Kingdom established itself as a global power, British embroidery reflected the different global influences. In modern history, it was British women that revitalized embroidery as an artistic medium. Embroiderers such as Alice Kettle and Audrey Walker have been exhibited next to contemporary painters and sculptors in recent exhibitions.
The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) is an internationally respected authority on traditional hand embroidery. It strives to preserve the heritage of precise and artistic stitching through teaching embroidery technique and through the many varied projects it undertakes in their working studio. Housed at Hampton Court Palace just south of London, the RSN offers day, certificate, and undergraduate courses teaching the art and cultural significance of hand embroidery. Their working studio on the ground floor of Hampton Court Palace restores and creates pieces for numerous Cathedrals, fashion houses, stately homes, and the royal family. They were responsible for the embroidery on the coronation robes of HM Elizabeth II and the late Queen Mother. In recent years, they gained much acclaim for their extensive embroidery on the wedding dress, veil and shoes of HRH the Duchess of Cambridge.
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