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Hanging by a thread
‘Many of our bird populations are in trouble’
ANGELA KNAPP’S EXHIBITION OF UK RED LIST BIRDS SUGGESTS WE HAVE A LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT WITH NATURE TO ENSURE IT SURVIVES US
Opposite page: A Contract with Nature1 – Lesser spotted Woodpecker is in a series of three hand-stitched works on paper indentures c. 1850, suggesting we need a contract with nature to ensure its survival
■NEAR THE SOMERSET LEVELS, in her studio that was once a miniature milking parlour, Angela Knapp is working furiously to finish a number of avian-themed embroidered artworks for a joint exhibition at ACEarts, Somerton, called Hanging by a Thread. Many of our bird populations are in trouble and, well, hanging by a thread. Of the 70 species on the UK Red List of endangered birds (2021), some of the more surprising entries are the swift, lesser spotted woodpecker, starling and house sparrow. It is Angela’s mission to bring their plight to our attention, through considered pieces that show the beauty and variety of these once abundant feathered friends whose future is very far from auspicious.
‘I’ve always been interested in birds,’ Angela tells me. ‘I went to Slimbridge in 1978 and absolutely loved it. Soon afterwards I got pneumonia and was off school for ages. I used to sit by the window at my grandparents’ home with a pair of binoculars and just watch and draw the birds. That was the starting point. The birds featured in my forthcoming exhibition were all common when I was a child in the 1970s, but are now at risk of being lost in my lifetime.’