A QUAKER art project which uses textile artworks to explore the threats to the natural world from environmental and climate change – and human behaviour – is coming to Wincanton over the weekend of 7th to 9th July.

Loving Earth is an international touring exhibition of panels by artists of all ages, some highly skilled textile experts and others total novices. Originally shown in 2019, it has toured widely, from Quaker meeting houses and the House of Commons to venues in Europe and the USA.

This is its final year of touring. It has previously been seen in Dorset and Somerset and is returning to the area, including a first time visit to Wincanton’s Quaker Meeting House. Around 60 panels are shown at the local exhibitions – more than 400 panels have been made since the start of the project.

The exhibition at the House of Commons earlier this year was the result of the Speaker of the House, Lindsay Hoyle, seeing it in his own constituency of Chorley. As well as being shown across the UK, the panels have been exhibited internationally in Ireland, France, Slovenia and the USA.  The show at the Scottish Maritime Museum was praised as one of the best cultural events in Scotland for COP 26.

The Loving Earth Project was initiated in 2019 to help individuals and communities in the UK and further afield to engage creatively with the climate crisis. Each textile panel addresses threats to our environment in a different way and is accompanied by details written by the artist on why a particular theme is close to their heart and what responsive action they have taken. Places, people, wildlife and many other aspects of the natural world are highlighted and numerous questions about the climate emergency raised.

“The project aims to help people engage creatively and constructively with loss and environmental breakdown, without being overwhelmed,” says Linda Murgatroyd, clerk of Quaker Arts Network and project co-founder. “It illustrates a variety of actions individuals are taking, and their concerns that much more is urgently needed.”

One important aspect of the exhibition is the deep care and concern it displays for the survival of our planet and an awareness that none of us can solve the climate crisis alone but that we can all be part of the solution.

For more information about this Quaker Arts Network exhibition see the Loving Earth website www.lovingearth-project.uk

• The Loving Earth will also be returning to Taunton Meeting House on 17th and 18th June, and Street Meeting House, 15th and 16th July, and to Sherborne Abbey in August..

The photographs show some of the textile panels and a previous exhibition at the historic Quaker Meeting House in Street.