The Janner Gansey Project
The Janner Gansey Project was the original idea of The Conscious Sisters CIC, a socially engaged arts company based in Plymouth, UK, producing unique art projects both for and with the community. The brainchild of two sisters; Artist, Karen Evans and Producer, Fiona Evans who love to collaboratively work together and with communities. They discovered the Gansey by chance and it took them down a rabbit hole of discovery. In their own words;
'We didn't see this project coming! A wonderful piece of cultural reclamation that came out of The Gathering. The Gathering Project focuses on reconnecting Plymouth people to the sea and The Plymouth Sound.'
Using social media, BBC Spotlight and BBC Radio Devon and Cornwall, they asked the community for memories of Ganseys, They spoke to fishermen who's ancestors worked with and on the sea. They studied archive footage at the Box Museum in Plymouth and found Richard Fisher's photo collection a valuable source of information. From the photos, they designed a new Gansey using the details from an archived photo found in the Fisher Collection. Enlisting a talented local knitter Maya Izumi to develop and knit a prototype, they created a brand new Janner Gansey for local crab fisherman BJ Tapper to wear.
The idea for The Gansey Gathering was born. A project to bring back the endangered Heritage Listed Craft of Gansey knitting to Plymouth and to use it as a tool to explore creativity, sustainability and our disconnect with our coastal heritage. The hard work of gaining funding was undertaken. They needed funding to offer 30 free places to people willing to learn the skill with instruction, yarn, needles provided. The bid was successful. Support came from The Rank Foundation and funds from Crowdfunder, National Marine Park Plymouth, The Box, Arts Council England, Nudge Community Builders, Plymouth Community Homes, Sovereign Housing, Local Emergencies Fund, BA Better World, Awards for All and Plymouth City Bus. They were good to go. Except they didn't have a pattern or a teacher....
I offered my services as an advisor but I absolutely wasn't going to teach the Project. I had parents who were sick and a full time job. However, when Fiona and Karen visited me, I could see how valuable the project was and that they needed a technical lead to proceed so I had a change of heart. Little did I know that I had also not seen this project coming and that it would change the trajectory of my own life too.
I advised Fiona and Karen not to expect too much. If they managed to sign up 30 knitters, then it would be doubtful they would manage the long knit on such tiny needles. I felt I had to be realistic. After running my own Gansey business for quite a few years, I struggled to find even a handful of knitters who still worked making the fishermen's sweaters. However, we offered the project out for sign ups on Social Media and had 75 responses! Meanwhile, I graded, checked and reworked the Janner Gansey Pattern and we produced a step by step colour booklet to accompany the course. Frangipani yarn supplied the yarn and needles and we were good to go.
The Conscious Sisters planned a 15 week itinerary which was enriched by talks from Marine Historians, Sea Shanty Singers, Story Tellers and the National Marine Park Plymouth along the way. This helped morale enormously when our knitters were on the tedious stocking stitch part of the sweater leading up to the patterned chest. The knitters took to it like a duck to water. They loved the Gansey a much as we did and were determined to finish. As with all teaching, I learnt as much from my students as I taught them. They came up with hacks and tips I hadn't considered and it was very much an exchange of knowledge. In addition, the knitters quickly bonded together and many formed enduring friendships. We shared not only knitting but our own stories and every one of us gained far more than a new sweater.
The second course came soon after due to demand. The Conscious Sisters were back on the fund raising again and we had way over a hundred applicants for this one. The second wave were just as enthusiastic and a joy to teach. Finally, the third course- a bigger size- this time 40 students. Applications were just as high in numbers but our alumni had formed a big knitting group which met weekly in The Box Museum Cafe and they were spreading the Gansey love wherever they went. Now the third course has finished, I am extremely proud to say we have taught 100 people to knit Ganseys! Together they have produced around 130 Ganseys to date and still growing. They have all become far more than students, they are my friends and peers and it has been an absolute joy and privilege getting to know every one of them. We would meet weekly in a workshop room at The Box Museum where a lovely chap would let me in every Sunday morning and we would have a nice chat and a giggle. That 'lovely chap' is now my husband and so you see, the Gansey Project has brought more to me than I ever could have imagined at a very difficult crossroads in my life.
Ever on the fundraising, Fiona and Karen were then successful in a bid to bring a new Sardine Festival to Plymouth in honour of a shoal of Herring that reportedly saved Plymouth from famine several centuries ago. It was a fabulous day where we opened with a parade of 100 Gansey wearers and the Barbican was packed with visitors who had come from all over Cornwall to share the Gansey love, taste sardines, make sardine hats and give an offering back to the sea.
And our story doesn't end here. The Conscious Sisters have developed a new Adrift Project whereby 5 new Ganseys have been created and knitted in the traditional way but with contemporary designs that speak of the issues faced by commercial fishers today including global warming and dredging. To be worn at sea by 5 local fishermen to see the effect that modern work practices and weather has on the garment. I have worked on design interpretation and technical pattern writer for this project and it has just been launched as an exhibition at The Royal William Yard in Plymouth. It seems the love for Ganseys endures and shows no sign of waning. Hurrah for the Navy Blue Sweater and thank you for all your gifts. Tina B xxx
