Durham Cathedral won the prestigious title of Number 1 Landmark in Britain in 2013

Durham Cathedral,England

The present Norman era cathedral had started to be built in 1093, replacing the city's previous 'White Church'. In 1986 the cathedral and Durham Castle were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and attract more than 600,000 visitors a year

Amongst the artworks requested to be displayed in Scotland was the work titled "Hope". It  is a very large work, originally commissioned and installed as an altar piece for a church at Sorreisa, North Norway This version that travelled with the 'Journey of Threads' was only 6 metres long, 4.8 metres high and almost 1 metre wide. It's total weight was over half a ton and it comprised almost 4,000 individually hand-dyed nylon threads - finished at their bases with  hand-polished stainless steel tubing.It was also displayed at the Talbot Rice Gallery in the old Edinburgh University.

To protect the ancient stonework all tapestries were mounted upon free standing scaffolding, as was the artwork 'Hope'.
 

'Hope' (the rainbow)

The Rainbow was a very popular attraction during the exhibition, it was especially loved by children

It was situated in front of the Great North Door.

The 'travelling version' of 'Hope' had also been shown at the Talbot Rice Gallery in the old Edinburgh University. The installation had been requested by PROF. DUNCAN MACMILLAN FRSA, FRSE, HRSA who had also travelled from Scotland a year earlier to attend the artist's exhibition at the Bergen International Festival

The 3 pictures below give some idea of the 'Hope' installation.These pictures were taken at the Talbot Rice Gallery in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh
Edinburgh

The whole tour of Scotland and Northern England was commissioned by the Royal Norwegian Foreign Office.

Below are some of the pictures of the exhibition inside the magnificent Durham Cathedral. Just to remind you...you are looking at very large handwoven tapestries.

Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh

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