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Save the Sheep
The art of endangered resources
This exhibit presents works of art and craft created by contemporary
handspinners from wool produced by rare and endangered breeds
of sheep.
Both the skills of handspinning and the unique
materials seem anachronistic. On the contrary, they embody
irreplaceable foundations of human civilization. Machines
can't do this quality of work. Chemistry, or even reverse
biological engineering, can't replicate these fibers.
Very little is required to conserve these
resources for the future: we need to pay attention and we
need to spend some time. We need to acknowledge their importance.
The process starts here, as you simply enjoy
what can happen when a sheep grows wool, a shepherd ensures
the health and quality of the sheep, and then a spinner makes
yarn which becomes a useful or fanciful object which enhances
life.
Welcome.
Partnerships Sheep.....Humans.....Landscape.....History
Sheep and people formed a partnership for
mutual survival long before many other components of what
we consider human culture were discovered. Our primary concern
in this exhibit is with wool and textiles, although sheep
can provide all the essential elements of a good, if basic,
life for humans: food, shelter, and clothing. Siberian houses
called yurts are made of wool. Feta cheese and yogurt can
be made from sheep's milk. Wool clothing encompasses options
ranging from luxurious to rugged.
Humans first began using wool by collecting
shed fibers. Primitive sheep can look out for themselves,
don't need to be shorn, and produce two layers of wool in
a single fleece. One layer consists of coarse fibers, which
can be used to make durable fabrics, ropes, and other sturdy
items. The second layer consists of fine fibers, better suited
to soft textiles, like clothing.
The wide range of applications between coarse
fibers (which are durable) and fine fibers (which are soft)
appears dramatically in the work you see here. If the sweaters
were made of coarse fibers, they would be so itchy (even scratchy)
that no one could wear them. If the rugs were made of fine
fibers, they would soon show signs of wear. Made from the
appropriate types of wool, all of the handmade items you see
here should last-and look good, in some cases even better-for
many years.
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| Breeds of sheep developed through close interactions
between human needs, the sheep's genetic potential, and particular
landscapes. Sheep adapted locally to climate and culture. Some
developed the ability to survive in deserts, with minimal vegetation
to eat. Other types withstand high temperatures while still
growing wool coats, or tolerate areas of high rainfall. One
particular breed, the North Ronaldsay, learned to thrive in
the intertidal area of an island in the North Sea by eating
seaweed. |
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Contemporary agriculture
in North America favors large sheep which produce quantities
of meat. Wool is considered a "second crop," and most
sheep raised on this continent produce a medium-grade wool which
cannot even remotely perform the tasks of finer or coarser wools.
It makes shabby rugs and hair-shirt underwear. Machine-processing
transforms this medium-grade wool into adequate, but not superior,
sweaters and coats. |
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| Black Wensleydale |
Increasing dependence on mechanical,
large-scale processing and the pressures of human population
have marginalized the breeds of sheep whose wool you see here.
These breeds may not produce large quantities of fiber or meat.
They do produce fiber and meat at a very low ecological and
economic cost. |
Photo
courtesy of Upper Mill Farm, East Sussex, United Kingdom, and
of Elite Genetics, Waukon, Iowa. |
| They are thrifty, which
means the right sheep in the right place can live well while
promoting the health of the environment. They are hardy, which
means they can withstand extremes of weather. They are disease-resistant,
and they take care of their own young. None of these qualities
can be taken for granted. A severe drought on the Navajo Nation
a few years ago hit the region's more "modern" sheep
hard, while the few Navajo Churro herds that have been re-established
came through far better.
The right sheep can reclaim a landscape.
While overgrazing can be a serious environmental threat resulting
in erosion and desertification, several rare breeds, like
Hebridean sheep and, again, Navajo Churros, are being used
to control invasive scrub and weeds. Sheep can provide organic
pest control on Christmas tree farms and in macadamia nut
production, and can control summer vegetation growth on ski
runs.
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| Breeds can die out quickly, taking with
them resources we may never be able to reclaim. The wild mouflon,
ancestor of modern sheep, grew fibers twice as fine as Merino,
the contemporary standard of fine, soft wool. In 1920, there
were 27,000 Oxford Down ewes. By 1970, there were less than
1,000-qualification for "endangered" status.
Cloning offers many fascinating possibilities
for the future, but it won't preserve the genetic resources
of these distinctive breeds. For that, we need viable, healthy,
breeding populations large enough to avoid the hazards of
inbreeding.
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| For handspinners, the range of fiber
types available only from rare breeds provides the possibility
of exchanging a bit of labor for a lot of luxury. On our floors,
we put Navajo Churro rugs that are polished, more than worn,
by passing generations of feet. We wrap our babies in soft Shetland
blankets. We fend off the wind with Karakul.
We honor the past with the work of our hands.
We conserve skills and resources for our children's benefit.
We would like the world to be richer, not poorer, in the future.
We do this in partnership with sheep and
the land.
As humans have, for many millennia.
The
Gallery
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