June

'In June the St Kildans used to round up the sheep on each of the islands for wool gathering. All the dogs and most of the islanders used to take part in the exercise, which was known as the 'ruagadh' and involved chasing the sheep round and round the island till they were trapped.'
Charles Maclean 1972

I've seen much of the contemporary way of sheep gathering on the Hebrides. It's less spectacular, but the wool is from a high quality. The landscape though, is still as spectacular as in those days. This image I took on Canna, one of the so-called small isles. Sheep walk around by themselves over the fields, and loose their left-over wool in the grass and on heather bushes. I use the beautiful pieces of wool to make the felted necklaces that are part of my collection. The regular wool I use to fill the flock of hand-knitted lambs in my collection.
www.renyvanderkamp.nl

World of Giving

This is an interesting book. About giving, as the title says. From compliments to donations. From a piece of bread to emergency aid. From philantrophy to governmental policy. It is written by Jeffrey Inaba and C-Lab at Columbia University.
It's a very helpful guide through the flow of aid and money. Designed as a design book which improves the readability.
What motivates giving? Is it altruism, is it a religious duty, is it reciprocity? This book shows all aspects playing a role in the world of giving and receiving. Why do NGO's compete with each other, what is the history of giving, how is giving embedded in our society? With cases that explain daily aid situations. With quotes from the Bible, the Koran, the Baghavad Gita. With good graphics about donation flows and the relation between give and receive, expenditures worldwide etcetera. Aid Capital is the term for the power of giving.
About the challenges we face towards the future. About the misinterpretations of facts and numbers. What struck me most was the clear explanation of the structure of aid. Being involved in development cooperation I'm aware how much can go wrong, and how important it is to care and share.
'Giving is any act that improves the capacity of another person. A gift can be as little as a nod of encouragement, or as great as taking a bullet for a friend.......Everyone is a giver. Every person gives to himself, many also give to others.'

Could we here?

This small film shows the joy of women and children when having guests. In the village of Utabwalero in Malawi. I was there with a colleague from 'Friends of Dickson' for the agriculture projects we do in the area.
Singing and dancing is in their genes so it seems. I was invited to join, which I did of course. It was hilarious and special. It made me wonder; how happy are we when having guests? How do we show that? How do we share happiness? Is happiness related to wealth? The answer to the last question is 'no'. For these people are among the poorest in the world; living from less than 2$ a day. I think we can learn from these women never to take anything for granted, and give more attention to our relationships than to our possessions. As Epiphano Chifumbi, a Malawian cathechist, expresses: a human being is a human being in relation to others.

Belonging

Another way of getting the same message about the importance of community living and caring for our environment is this children's book by Jeannie Baker.
In a great sequence of the same view through a bedroom window we see the neighbourhood develop. We first see a kind of decline with half-broken advertisement boards, damaged walls and more concrete than green. Suddenly we see more children, more friendliness and an increase of green. A communal garden, a playground and elderly people as well as families. We also see the child who's window we look through grow up. We see how she develops her identity, individuality and.. a sense of belonging.
And the images are so wonderfully made; each is a collage a made with mixed materials. Textile, wood, carton, clay etc.
A brilliant idea and a brilliant design. With a simple, important and positive story about (urban) life.

My Green City

Th subtitle of this book is back to nature with attitude and style. And indeed it contains a great attitude and a strong style. It's full of urban initiatives that bring nature back into cities. Guerilla gardens, pop-up outdoor restaurants, a vintage plant shop, rooftop beehives, educational projects....it makes you, me at least, want to be part of every page! It's such a great development, and it's growing fast. It makes people think, it makes people smile, it brings a new way of neighbourhood living, a sense of community and it makes you feel a sustainable lifestyle is actually easier in a city than in the countryside. That is good news, for urbanisation is also a fast-growing development.
This book should be on the desk of every urban developer, every city councillor and every designer. This green city is the city we should aim for.

Flora Celtica - plants and people in Scotland

This book is a wealth of information. And a source of inspiration for me. The evolving relation between humans and plants. In my continuing research for crafts and lifestyle in the remote Western Isles of Scotland I encountered many of the issues described in this book.
Weaving with twigs, dying wool with leaves, flower buds and roots, insulating and thatching with grasses, enriching nutrition value with seaweeds, ropes made from heather etcetera. The use of plants has a rich history and a wide variety of uses.
The book is clearly divided into chapters about the elements in the ongoing relation with plants and trees. Food and drink, homes, transport, health, culture, farming, economy, crafts and environment. lavishly illustrated. It's also a treasure, for much is in decay.
The authors are William Milliken and Sam Bridgewater; both (ethno)botanical specialists.

• Which type of lichen makes the best orange dye?
• What plants did our ancestors use for healing wounds?
• How do you make a traditional dish from carrageen seaweed?
• Why is it still considered unlucky to cut down a rowan tree?
• When is the best time to cut heather for thatching a house?

With books such as this some of the knowledge and skills may be kept for the future. And will hopefully get back into bloom. Not for being nostalgic but for being aware of the richness around us, and the need to take good care of our planet.

Threads of Feeling

Occasionally the catalogue of an exhibition is better than the exhibition itself. To my belief that's the case here. The theme of the exhibition, which was in London's Foundling Museum in the early spring, is heartbreaking. Textile tokens from the museum's archives. Tokens left by young mothers who brought their babies to the foundling hospital in the eighteenth century as the only trace for possible future contact. Most children stayed in the hospital for the rest of their lives until they went to work somewhere. If contact between mother and child ever was restored is hard to tell. The museum has around 5000 swatches, stapled together with a letter in which was written the age, the possessions and the sex of the baby. The catalogue gives an in-depth view into the historical background and is written by John Styles. The beautiful photographs and details of eighteen-century prints are a great illustration of the story.
5000 Swatches means 5000 heartbreaking stories of lost love, despair and hope. In the swatches you can see the sign of the times. Symbols, fashion, living standard, crafts. All kinds of fabric such as silk, wool, cotton and linen. Ribbons, embroidery, patterns; all so delicate!
In the eighteenth-century song 'Oh dear, what can the matter be' we hear about the emotional significance of ribbons:
He promis'd to buy me a pair of blue stockings
a pair of blue garters that cost him but two pence
he promis'd to bring me a bunch of blue ribbons
to tie up my bonny brown hair.
Ribbons in favourite colours were worn as material emblems of attachment.
I'm very attached to this book!

revolution

What's going on in Egypt and other countries in the Middle East is amazing. From here it seems as if it's a revolution of the people. Men and women of all ages, levels of education and religions are together in this. Democracy, freedom of speech and an end to corruption is their main demand. It turned into a chaos yesterday, and we do not know yet the result of this. It's still hard to read anyway.
I found a Welsh proverb which expresses the hope of all this:
A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible.
(photo's by Liza Crowley Judson)