Golden Threads Reawakened, Weaving a Legacy. Jackie Grant and Cathie Wright

The tapestry uses golden threads collectd by Hedwig Philip which had not seen the light of day for 70 years. Hedwig was a German Jew. She and her husband narrowly avoided the Holocaust; they left Berlin in 1941 to join their family in Pennsylvannia.
A skilled needlewoman she collected golden threads and embroidered a Torah mantle for the local synagogue. In 1951 she travelled with all her belongings to Britain to join her daughter in Newcastle. Hedwig died shortly afterwards, Her box of golden threads remained unopened and passed down to her daughter and grandaughter Cathie Wright.
Cathie wanted something purposeful and interesting to be done with the threads.
This secular tapestry pays homage to Hedwig's story using her historic golden threads woven together with contemporary red and gray yarn. The weavers each designed a panel drawing on the themes of refugee travel and survival, avoiding conflict, reaching out, building bridges and seeking to make the world a better place.