Grayson Perry seems to be a old hand at making scarves. My good friend Giselle sent me a link to a scarf he made for the brilliant De La Warr Pavillion, pictured below. Phillippa, a kind commenter on my Liberty Prints Charming post alerted me to the fact that the artist has also already designed a scarf for the Tate, pictured below.
They both look great, but the Tate scarf is based on WWII silk escape maps, which is one of my obsessions and funnily enough something I was planning to write about this week. Perry’s scarf is a humourous take on the precarious career choice that is being an artist: ‘In the second world war pilots were given maps printed on silk to help them escape if they were shot down over enemy territory. This scarf is a social and cultural map to help aspiring artists navigate the hostile territory on their way to being accepted by the establishment. Many famous artists who can help them live along the route’
During the war ultra-thin silk maps were smuggled into prisoner camps to help soldiers make their escape. It’s a really amazing piece of history and all the more exciting for the fact that you can still buy them on eBay. I’m a bit of a World War two geek, or at least I was when I was a child. I remember the silence from my Brownies’ Brown Owl when I suggested our float for the summer parade should have the theme of WWII orphans. They went for Hawaiian.
Debbie Hall’s great website explains that “tiny compasses were concealed in buttons, pens and the like” along with supplies of water and food. You can still buy these maps on eBay, and they’re really beautiful, I’d love to wear them or make some replicas and turn them into clothes.
