After three years in the making, Threads of Time – 26’s wonderful collaboration with the prison stitching charity, Fine Cell Work – is published today, 26 April.
The 144-page richly illustrated book, designed by visual artist David Caines, celebrates Fine Cell Work’s 25-year history through telling the stories of the charity’s incredible products and the people behind them – the prisoners, the artists, the volunteers, the commissioners.
Writers from 26 have contributed to this story-telling alongside authors Tacy Chevalier, Louis de Bernières, Esther Freud and Isabella Tree, all of whom are long-time supporters of the charity. The list of contributors is truly stellar, as is that of the artists who designed items featured in the book: they include Ai Weiwei, Idris Khan and Cornelia Parker.
Forgive us for the name-dropping, but we are thrilled to be in such company.
The images in the book are as wonderful as the writing. You can see the quilt that offers a bird’s-eye view of HMP Wandsworth, the Gentoo pigeons stitched for a gift shop in Antarctica, the chairs embroidered with human skeletons, the dresses bearing the names of a thousand great women, the needlepoint portrait of the Queen, the duvet depicting refugees on perilous sea crossings.
As we mentioned in last month’s newsletter, Threads of Time is one of 26’s most ambitious projects in so many ways, and we are celebrating the project’s finale with contributors and supporters at Fine Cell Work’s hub tonight.
If you haven’t yet ordered a copy of the book, you can do so here. It’s the perfect gift for anyone who’s interested in writing, design, needlework or prisoner rehabilitation.
– The Threads of Time editorial team: Elise Valmorbida, Fiona Thompson, Sue Evans and Wendy Sacks Jones.