ANGUS MCPHEE - Weaver of Grass


ANGUS MCPHEE or MACPHEE was a crofter from Uist who spent almost 50 years in a Highland psychiatric hospital. During this time he chose not to speak - instead he wove a series of incredible costumes out of grass. These he hung on trees in the hospital grounds.

This blog follows the progress of HORSE + BAMBOO THEATRE as they develop and tour a show about Angus....

Thursday, 1 September 2011

Copenhagen




We passed through Copenhagen on the way back from Sweden and had a few hours to pass between trains. I couldn't resist the opportunity of revisiting the Gundestrup Cauldron in the National Museum. Not immediately related to Angus MacPhee, I suppose, but to me the quintessential piece of Celtic artwork. Look at the horned figure in the central photograph, and seeing his woven suit I can't but imagine it woven from grass. And more directly, these excavated sacrificial offerings of human hair - as fresh as the day they were cut - and even here, that compunction to plait and weave. Wonderful!


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