As part of the main visual focus of the anthropology course, research was conducted in summer 2019 into wool production and processing on the Shetland Islands. This work gave rise to the film “Shetland’s Common Thread”. The makers concentrated on how knowledge is passed on, what the everyday routine looks like for the people involved in each step of production. They also captured nonverbal aspects such as the sensory and haptic qualities of the wool and weather conditions on the islands.
In the subsequent photographic exhibition, Anja Heinrich, Helena Held and Leyla Rauch present hitherto unpublished images that specifically address the interplay between the locality, the weather and the inhabitants. It is the combination of these aspects that makes the way wool is produced on the Shetland Islands so unique. The exhibition seeks to highlight how interconnected and how fragile this eco-organism is.
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