Weaver heads off to Arctic Circle

By Pauline McLean
BBC Scotland Arts Correspondent

The visit is designed to see an exchange of ideas

A Scots weaver is setting off to an isolated community in the Arctic Circle to help with a commission for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

David Cochrane, from Edinburgh, will travel to the small Innuit community of Pangnirtung on Baffin Island next week.

He will be advising local weavers about a tapestry which has been commissioned for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Pangnirtung weavers saw the work as an opportunity for an exchange.

Weaving was introduced to Pangnirtung in the 1970s and now, along with printmaking, is one of their best known exports.

The weavers have few opportunities to be exposed to other tapestry weavers Deborah Hickman Shop owner

Deborah Hickman, who runs the weave shop in Pangnirtung, first visited the Edinburgh weavers in 1983.

Then, they were known as the Edinburgh Tapestry Company and were based in Donaldson's School. Today they're based in Dovecot Studios - a network of studios, loom space and exhibition halls - which opened in 2008.

"So when the studio was given a commission to weave a large tapestry for the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver Canada, I thought that it was a perfect opportunity to act on the idea of an exchange between studios," she said.

"On our part the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio will benefit from David's expertise as a member of the weaving team and also by some of the things he will be bringing to share with us including 'ways of working'.

"We are pretty isolated up here on the Arctic Circle so the weavers have few opportunities to be exposed to other tapestry weavers and their practices. The weavers at the studio are all looking forward to David's arrival.

"None of them speak English and we assume that David does not speak Inuktitut, but nevertheless I think that he will find them a lively and dedicated group of tapestry weavers."

The tapestry was designed by Pangnirtung artist Andrew Qappik, one of Nunavut's leading artists, with contributions from artists from all four Inuit regions in Canada.