Beth Snelling
she/her
Sown Stories / Scéalta Síolta
'Sown Stories/ Scéalta Síolta' is a culmination of work exploring County Down’s relationship with its heritage in the flax and linen industry. My initial interest stemmed from narratives passed down through generations, grounded in the experiences of my grandmother who worked in a linen factory.
Each component of ‘Sown Stories’ intertwines. The first is a publication delving into the vibrant history of the mills and the bustling industry they once housed. The second is an intergenerational toolkit, carefully crafted to extract linen stories from older generations. This toolkit links to an online space where oral histories are recorded. Finally, the third visualises the physicality of sowing linen back into our communities today, through an installation piece that bridges the past with the present.
Sown Stories is a testament to the spirit of those who sowed the seeds in our past and whose history we can now weave into the present.
232 Mills of County Down is a publication that tells the story of 232 mills in County Down that were part of the linen industry in Ireland. Using personal interviews, photography and research, this publication aims to inform and make a powerful impact, by displaying how an industry that once upon a time held so much space and value in Ireland has drastically diminished. Bound using hand painted layers of PVA glue with 31 white linen threads placed along the spine, further strengthened with a coat of PUR Glue to create an industrial authentic linen bind.
Strategically composed of 232 pages to represent the former scale of the linen industry in Ireland. A combination of white ink on 140gsm Iris Siro Paper and black ink 120gsm White Soporset Paper has been used to represent the ‘wee blue blossom’ of the flax flower.
The publication (20.3 x 35.6cm) contains 31 chapter pages each with 140gsm Sirio Color Perla inserts (19.8 x 12cm) that act as chapter markers whilst translating each location into its original Irish name.
Sown Stories is an inter-generational toolkit, which has been carefully crafted to encourage story telling from the linen industry, especially from older generations. Made up of 7 different items: An interactive workbook, stickers that encourage playfulness, postcards, a deck of question cards, a questioning device, a camera and a box to ship the above.
Set of 4 Postcards for the older generation to record an analogue response.
Flax is a type made using flax seeds
Sown is a type experiment planted using flax seeds
The Sown Stories archive is available online for you to submit stories or browse linen stories that have already been sown: sownstories.cargo.site/
The Border, submission to the International Society of Typographic Designers. Composed of two publications, the first (19.2 x 13.1cm) with a cut of 9.9 x 8.5cm in the top left and right corner which the secondary book fits into, both housed together in a belly band.
The Border, submission to the International Society of Typographic Designers. Composed of two publications that must work together in order to obtain the full story of The Border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Research
