Imogen Bright Moon

Lives and works in Brighton, England

Black Tent - Black Sarah, Imogen Bright Moon. Photo Alun Callender.jpg
Black Tent - Black Sarah, Imogen Bright Moon. Photo Alun Callender.jpg

Bright Moon is a British-Romani craftswoman, studio weaver and exhibiting artist-maker in textiles.

A potent symbol of nomadism, the construct of the black tent reaches back into collective human antiquity in its various guises; as the biblical tabernacle in the desert, as the traditional borderland dwellings of the Indo-Iranian Balouchi tribe, as the Bedouin and Imazighen goat-hair canvas tents of meeting…. as the canvas bender tents of the Rabari and the Romani. As the title for this artwork suggests a two-fold theme, Black Tent and Black Sarah, (that is to say, Sarah Kali, the patron saint of the Romani people), not only in the hue of “darkness”, but intertwined linguistically, for in certain Romanes dialects, “black tent” can be glossed as “Kalo Tsera”. If the black tent itself can be a symbolic placeholder for nomadism, then the patrin scattered above may also serve as an active and timely reminder of shelter, safety, mothering, memory, and indeed, spiritual manifestation. What if the black tent could at once be a home and a holy place, and by virtue of the protected status of places of worship, bring the socially-acceptable position of “pilgrim” to the consciousness of those who would seek to dismantle the encampment, both psychic and actual.

Imogen combines hand-weaving with storytelling, folklore, and heritage crafts to create her studio textiles. Her works employ hand-spun yarns on simple wooden looms to explore the ongoing story of textiles and their place in our lives today.

The artist was in the following exhibition:
Talk // Sgwrs - Gypsy Maker 5

Links :
www.blacktentblacksarah.com
  • Black Tent - Black Sarah, Imogen Bright Moon. Photo Alun Callender.jpg