Threads of the Middle-earth.
“Aubusson Weaves Tolkien” exhibition in Paris.
On the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien’s completion of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien’s enchanting tapestries will be for the first time exhibited outside the Cité Internationale de la Tapisserie in Aubusson and showcased at the Parisian institution of the Collège des Bernardins.
By Unknown photo studio commissioned by Tolkien’s students 1925/6 (private communication from Catherine McIlwaine, Tolkien Archivist, Bodleian Library) – Epistle of Dude, Photos from the lives of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, probably originally sourced from John Garth, Tolkien and the Great War, Public Domain, Wiki Commons.
The Cité internationale de la tapisserie in Aubusson, France, signed an agreement with the Tolkien Estate to create an exclusive series of thirteen tapestries and one carpet to be woven at Aubusson over the course of four years. The creations are based on the original illustrations by Tolkien, as he was not only a renowned author but also a highly talented illustrator who began creating as a child and continued to do so throughout his life. Many of the works published during his life were accompanied by his illustrations. Aubusson Weaves Tolkienexhibition will present fifteen tapestries from the Hanging, based on Tolkien’s original graphic work and created by the workshops of the Cité Internationale de la Tapisserie.
To provide an insight into the religious dimension of Tolkien’s work, too, the tapestries will be on display in the nave, the former sacristy and the 18th-century staircase of the Collège des Bernardins and completed by memorabilia from private collections. The exhibition takes us on an epic journey through the magnificent land of Elves, dark forests outside of space and time, white shores, and intimidating hills of Isengard and Mordor. Like Bilbo’s journey recorded in song and legend, these tapestries preserve the wonder of Middle-earth in a medium as enduring as the tales themselves.
