Thanks to Laurie Waters for sharing this event with us. If there is an exhibit brochure, would someone please pick up a copy for my library ? I will pay the related expenses. I am now trying to fill in gaps of lace history with lace ephemera - printed material that is not in book form. Laurie gives some addresses in her LaceNews that show Ypres after WWI and today. This is a startling reminder of the tremendous losses suffered. To view the photos today, is to not realize how bad it was. My Belgian friend who had worked for AT&T took me around Belgium at the time of the Ghent OIDFA Congress. I exclaimed about the architecture - all those lacy cathedral spires ! Suddenly, she (not born until after WWII) had tears streaming down her cheeks, as she told me it was all restoration and Belgium had lost so many lives and so much original architecture and art. Medieval towns were pulverized. Look at the photos of Ypres with this in mind. http://www.kantatelierdekersecorf.be/ (Click on purple lettering)
http://tinyurl.com/mdjw7hc (Ypres & the Great War) Our newer Arachne members may not realize how much has been written about "war lace", which was made to earn money to help pay for the very necessary food and medicines allowed through the German blockade for use by the Belgian domestic population. The flax industry was destroyed, so thread was shipped through the blockade, weighed by the Germans, and the completed laces were weighed before being allowed to leave Belgium for eventual sale to lace buyers in other countries. It was not economically viable, but helped. Today, most of the war laces are in museums. Our English language "bible" for information is "Bobbins of Belgium" by Charlotte Kellogg. Kellogg was driven around Belgium in the closing days of WWI, and wrote this most informative account. Tess scanned my copy of this book (actually, she had donated the book to my lace library!) into the Arizona site for all to read. Kellogg wrote another book, "Women of Belgium - Turning Tragedy to Triumph", which is interesting reading for social workers. Not on Arizona site, but can be ordered from InterLibrary Loan. http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/lace.html I looked up Ypres entries in the "Bobbins" book. There is no chapter devoted to Ypres, because it was completely destroyed and there were no lace makers for Kellogg to visit there. Mentions of Ypres are on Pgs. 36, 87, 90, 143, 271. As you scroll around looking for these pages, pause when you come to photos. Many are of the famous "war laces". Question: Has anyone, or a lace organization, taken on the project of preparing a book about the International Poppy Project ? As always, Arachne archives contain files about the subjects covered in this memo. Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center --------------------- In a message dated 11/9/2014 10:13:58 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, lswaters...@comcast.net writes: The final exhibition of the International Poppy Project is now underway at the "De Kazematten" in Ypres, Belgium (runs October 25 to November 16, 2014). It is being shown in conjunction with an exhibition on War Lace by the Kantatelier "De Kersecorf". Laurie - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
