Putting Weaving on the Map: Dovecot Studios

By Natascha Watt

Dovecot (“doocot” in Scots) Studios, initially known as the Edinburgh Tapestry Company, is a weaving and exhibition space situated in the heart of Edinburgh that has been running for over a century. The name refers to its original location beside the Corstorphine Dovecot.

Founded by John Crichton-Stuart, 4th Marquess of Bute, in 1912 as a way of promoting the Arts and Crafts movement, it employed master weavers Gordon Berry and John Glassbrook, both of whom had worked in William Morris’s workshops. Weaving was suspended due to the outbreak of World War One, during which both Berry and Glassbrook lost their lives.

The Studios’ original connection to the Isle of Bute continues today in William Skeoch Cumming’s unfinished tapestry Prince of the Gael (1938), which is now part of the Bute Collection at Mount Stuart House along with his completed designs of The Lord of the Hunt (1912-1924) and The Time of the Meeting (1933–1938).

Graham Sutherland in collaboration with Dovecot Studios, Wading Birds, 1949, Vancouver Art Gallery. Image Courtesy of Dovecot Studios.

Alberta Whittle in collaboration with Dovecot Studios (woven by Naomi Robertson, Emma Jo Webster and Ben Hymers), Entanglement is More Than Blood, 2022, Tapestry: 177.70 cm x 183.00 cm, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh. Image courtesy of Dovecot Studios.

Overtime, Dovecot Studios have collaborated with both Scottish and international artists (such as Alison Watt and Alberta Whittle, or Henry Moore and Frank Stella), presenting some of its works at important international exhibitions like the Venice Biennale. First showing in 1952 with Graham Sutherland’s Wading Birds (1949), the studio has more recently displayed Alberta Whittle’s Entanglement is More Than Blood (2022) at the prestigious venue. The latter explores the complex and widespread impact of colonialism on trade, migration, the climate and the natural environment.

Joanne Soroka, Dovecot Studios, Water of Life commission for the Glenfiddich Distillery, 1983. Image courtesy of Dovecot Studios

In the 1960s, Dovecot saw its first female tapestry weaver, Maureen Hodge, be appointed. In the following two decades, the first female directors of the Studios were appointed: Fiona Mathison in 1978 and Joanne Soroka in 1982. Soroka, who was born in Canada and based in Edinbrugh, primarily weaves tapestries but also works with other textiles and mediums such as paper. Following her appointment as director she made Water of Life (1983) for the Glenfiddich Distillery.

The Infirmary Street Baths in Edinburgh before being converted into Dovecot Studios. The swimming pool is now the weaving studio. Image courtesy of Dovecot Studios.

A view of the weaving studio from the balcony at Dovecot Studios. Image courtesy of the author.

From 2005 to 2008, the Infirmary Street Baths (opened in 1885 as the first public baths in Edinburgh) were restored in order to create a new space for Dovecot Studios. The Edinburgh architecture firm Malcom Fraser Architects was in charge of the conversion. Traces of the building’s original purpose remain today as one of the baths’ turnstiles stands on the viewing balcony. The balcony runs along the entire room, allowing visitors to look down into the weaving studio situated in what used to be the swimming pool. This allows to slightly break down the barrier between the maker and the viewer, as the weaving process is entirely visible, albeit from a distance. Additionally, it hints at the collaborative nature of the works produced by the Studios, allowing everyone to be a part of the process, even if only in an observatory function.

Dovecot Studios after Charles Rennie Mackintosh (woven by Rudi Richardson), Tulips, 2023, Wool and cotton, 136 x 123 cm.

Although working with artists internationally, Dovecot is still very much anchored in Scotland, in its history and culture. Indeed, the Studios made Tulips (2023) to celebrate Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the Scottish designer and architect. The textile designs he made towards the end of his career do not enjoy as much success as the rest of his oeuvre but are no less worthy of attention. Many of these textile designs, of which he created more than one hundred throughout the 1910s, are now part of the Hunterian Museum’s collection in Glasgow. Most of them were not made into finished textiles during Mackintosh’s lifetime, allowing contemporary artists to interpret them in their own way and finally create a finished textile in the present day. In this specific design, Mackintosh brings together stylised floral motifs and the geometric forms of the Glasgow Style.

 Finally, alongside its weaving studio, the space also hosts exhibitions, notably some showcasing Scottish art and artists - in collaboration with the Fleming Collection - such as Scottish Women Artists: 250 Years of Challenging Perceptions (28 July 2023 – 6 January 2024) in which Alberta Whittle’s watercolour Entanglement is More Than Blood (2021-2022) was on show. The current exhibition Scottish Colourists: Radical Perspectives (7 February – 25 June 2025) celebrates the Colourists’ (Samuel Peploe, John Fergusson, Francis Cadell and George Hunter) work in relation to that of their contemporaries, as well as the centenary of the first exhibition of works by all four in the UK, at the Leicester Gallery, London.

Bibliography

Dovecot Studios. “Artists, Weavers & Tufters: Joanne Soroka.” Accessed 10 February 2025.

https://dovecotstudios.com/tapestry-studio/artists-weavers-tufters/joanne-soroka

Dovecot Studios. “Charles Rennie Mackintosh: Tulips.” Accessed 10 February 2025.

https://dovecotstudios.com/tapestry-studio/tapestries-rugs/charles-rennie-mackintosh-tulips

Dovecot Studios. “Tapestry Studio: Timeline.” Accessed 10 February 2025.

https://dovecotstudios.com/tapestry-studio/timeline

National Galleries of Scotland. “Lida Moser.” Accessed 10 February 2025.

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/10141/dovecot-studios-edinburgh-tapestry-company-ronnie-mcvinnie-john-loufit-fred-marin-richard-gordon - :~:text=Founded in 1912 to promote,the loom behind the weavers

University of Glasgow. “University News: Taking a fresh look at Mackintosh.” 2 September 2008.

https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/archiveofnews/2008/september/headline_90636_en.html