Thames Heritage Tapestry

For more info about Thames Heritage and the Tapestry project see www.thamesheritage.org.uk/tapestry.asp If you're near the Ashmolean this week and have 10 minutes to spare do dash in and have a look at this charming exhibition. It consists of 80-90 1metre square panels about The Thames, as seen through the eyes of children whose schools are near its banks, all the way from the wide majestic river passing famous landmarks in London right down to the trickle in Gloucestershire that you would hardly recognise as The Thames at all.

The nice thing about the exhibition is the variety and quirkiness - some panels form one striking image, others are a wealth of tiny detail. Some focus on wildlife, some on people, some on architectural scenes, and one or two covering some startling different periods in history (around Deptford there's a certain famous Elizabethan, in Gloucestershire there's a very sweet woolly mammoth).

Because of the scale of the project there's a pretty wide variety of textile techniques at work too. I'd recommend a look whether it's the tapestry or the Thames angle which intrigues you, but it's only here for a very short time, so go quick. It's in the first gallery on the left as you go in the main doors, so you really can nip in and out. You'll feel the fresh air in your lungs just from looking at it.

Jen Pawsey (DI Reviewer), 09/01/12

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