BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP
Image: Connessioni territoriali: Connessioni Mostra collettiva arte contemporanea, “Connecting People” - Mamoiada (NU) (2019), Pietrina Atzori.
Baa Baa Black Sheep: two women, one French, one Italian, sharing a passion for two breeds of sheep on the edge of extinction. Have they any wool? Yes sir!
By Helena Wadsley
A small flock of sheep huddle in the shade of a tree while a tractor traces the number eight through the knee-high grass around them. They remain unperturbed, unusual for sheep but a characteristic of this calm Dutch breed, called Zwartbles, meaning black blaze. Deep chocolate brown wool cloaks most of their bodies, apart from white on a crisp ribbon down their faces, on the dainty tail tips, and as socks. Two sheep, one white and one chambray, or grey, are the odd ones out. French farmer Laëtitia Tallon began raising sheep several years ago, wanting to preserve this almost extinct, archaic breed. This is a multi-purpose herd, good for their milk, meat, and wool whereas the more common practice is to raise breeds with higher yields of either milk or meat but not both. Wool-wise, Tallon doubts there is sufficient interest because black cannot be dyed, but in fact, the wool is luxuriant in texture and colour.
Meanwhile, in Sardinia, Italy, an artist with the same passion for a rare breed of black sheep, the Pecora Nera di Arbus, Pietrina Atzori, works on bringing awareness of these sheep, with only about 5000 currently in existence. Motivated to change the lack of demand for the long-haired woolly strands they produce, she creates artworks with the wool.
Image: Connessioni territoriali: Connessioni Mostra collettiva arte contemporanea, “Connecting People” - Mamoiada (NU) (2019), Pietrina Atzori.
The landscapes of the interior of Sardinia and the Mayenne region of the Pays de la Loire in France are thinly populated. The Mayenne is mostly gently rolling agricultural land interrupted by pockets of forest. Both have small villages of stone-built houses and ancient traditions. Both are regions of economic struggle. Lower yielding breeds such as the Zwartbles and the Pecora Nera di Arbus are not favoured by farmers even though they are well adapted to the region from which they come. If we recognise the value of their wool, in addition to their other yields—meat and milk, farmers might be more willing to raise a greater variety of breeds, resulting in overall genetic diversity and hardier animals.
Atzori and Tallon represent a movement towards, not just a preservation of species of rare sheep, but a deep interest in preserving an old way of life that is not dependent on mechanisation. They have both taken the time to learn age-old skills of carding, spinning, knitting, and other techniques related to their heritage. Tallon journeyed to the Larzac region in France about six years ago to learn spinning from an artisan who integrated it into a spiritual practice, something very important for Tallon too. She recognizes the importance of maintaining these skills, not just as a way of perpetuating cultural heritage, but also as a way of acknowledging women’s labour and, possibly most importantly, as a way of slowing down, meditating, and relaxing.
As with the Zwartbles sheep, Atzori found that there was no demand for the black wool, even though black dye for wool or fabric is less stable. Working to make this uniquely Sardinian breed known helps the 70 farmers to sell the milk and ricotta cheese. As an autochthonous herd, they are hardy in their indigenous environment.
Image: Connessioni territoriali: Connessioni Mostra collettiva arte contemporanea, “Connecting People” - Mamoiada (NU) (2019), Pietrina Atzori.
Atzori works not only on preserving the breed of sheep but the traditional needle-based techniques. This intangible cultural knowledge has been in danger of being forgotten, though it is making a comeback. She learned how to process the wool through artisans based in Italy, Finland, and Lithuania, and shares her knowledge by giving local workshops. She uses the wool to felt, weave, and knit artworks, but in 2019, feeling this was not enough to promote awareness of this small population of sheep, she visited about 30 Italian towns, riding a scooter 3500 kilometres in 17 days, from the south to the north of Italy, mailing a strip of black wool from each place to its mayor. The strips represent a symbolic joining of communities while sharing information about Arbus sheep. In January 2020, the Arbus Black Sheep Trademark was created by the Arbus city council, and it now has its own Geographic Collective Mark so that all products, whether milk, meat, cheese, wool, or even carvings made from their horns will be labelled with the trademark.
A recently sheared load of Zwartbles wool sits in enormous sacks in the barn Tallon and her partner built from scratch. While it is an easy wool to prepare because the first steps of cleaning and carding can be skipped, it is quite coarse, making it scratchy next to the skin but excellent as outerwear. Historically, this wool, called ‘burelle’ in French, was woven to make ‘bures’, the rough dark robes worn by monks. The black sheep’s wool of Arbus continues to be used in Sardinia to create the costumes for Mamuthones, masked men who perform an ancient ceremonial dance during Carnival. The heavy costume is composed of sheepskins of black wool supporting a cluster of enormous cow bells. When they dance, in a synchronised slow hopping motion, the bells jingle hypnotically.
Image: Connessioni territoriali: Connessioni Mostra collettiva arte contemporanea, “Connecting People” - Mamoiada (NU) (2019), Pietrina Atzori.
Tallon is a dedicated farmer who forms a bond with her sheep but also realises that she must sell the meat to justify having them. The primary source of income for her and partner, Sylvain Barcq, is their organic produce, but her love of animals motivated her to pursue raising this breed of sheep, choosing it to aid in preventing its extinction. For the two days a year the meat is sold, she insists the clients are aware of the breed’s story. Atzori is an artist who has found a medium that relates to her roots as a Sardinian. Both hope that the demand for their beloved black, cocoa, and caramel coloured wool will grow, and surely it will as the slow fashion movement expands and learning of DIY skills is shared through generational and community connections, whether to make art, garments, or community-connecting events such as Atzori’s Italy tour to connect its people through a strand of black wool.
Laëtitia Tallon’s farm is La Ferme des Fontaines in Fontaine-Daniel, Saint-Georges-Buttavent, Mayenne region of the Pays de la Loire, France.
Pietrina Atzori lives in San Sperate, Sardinia, Italy. Find out more on her website: www.atzoripietrina-art.com
Baa Baa Black Sheep: two women, one French, one Italian, sharing a passion for two breeds of sheep on the edge of extinction. Have they any wool? Yes sir!
By Helena Wadsley
A small flock of sheep huddle in the shade of a tree while a tractor traces the number eight through the knee-high grass around them. They remain unperturbed, unusual for sheep but a characteristic of this calm Dutch breed, called Zwartbles, meaning black blaze. Deep chocolate brown wool cloaks most of their bodies, apart from white on a crisp ribbon down their faces, on the dainty tail tips, and as socks. Two sheep, one white and one chambray, or grey, are the odd ones out. French farmer Laëtitia Tallon began raising sheep several years ago, wanting to preserve this almost extinct, archaic breed. This is a multi-purpose herd, good for their milk, meat, and wool whereas the more common practice is to raise breeds with higher yields of either milk or meat but not both. Wool-wise, Tallon doubts there is sufficient interest because black cannot be dyed, but in fact, the wool is luxuriant in texture and colour.
Meanwhile, in Sardinia, Italy, an artist with the same passion for a rare breed of black sheep, the Pecora Nera di Arbus, Pietrina Atzori, works on bringing awareness of these sheep, with only about 5000 currently in existence. Motivated to change the lack of demand for the long-haired woolly strands they produce, she creates artworks with the wool.
Image: Connessioni territoriali: Connessioni Mostra collettiva arte contemporanea, “Connecting People” - Mamoiada (NU) (2019), Pietrina Atzori.
The landscapes of the interior of Sardinia and the Mayenne region of the Pays de la Loire in France are thinly populated. The Mayenne is mostly gently rolling agricultural land interrupted by pockets of forest. Both have small villages of stone-built houses and ancient traditions. Both are regions of economic struggle. Lower yielding breeds such as the Zwartbles and the Pecora Nera di Arbus are not favoured by farmers even though they are well adapted to the region from which they come. If we recognise the value of their wool, in addition to their other yields—meat and milk, farmers might be more willing to raise a greater variety of breeds, resulting in overall genetic diversity and hardier animals.
Atzori and Tallon represent a movement towards, not just a preservation of species of rare sheep, but a deep interest in preserving an old way of life that is not dependent on mechanisation. They have both taken the time to learn age-old skills of carding, spinning, knitting, and other techniques related to their heritage. Tallon journeyed to the Larzac region in France about six years ago to learn spinning from an artisan who integrated it into a spiritual practice, something very important for Tallon too. She recognizes the importance of maintaining these skills, not just as a way of perpetuating cultural heritage, but also as a way of acknowledging women’s labour and, possibly most importantly, as a way of slowing down, meditating, and relaxing.
As with the Zwartbles sheep, Atzori found that there was no demand for the black wool, even though black dye for wool or fabric is less stable. Working to make this uniquely Sardinian breed known helps the 70 farmers to sell the milk and ricotta cheese. As an autochthonous herd, they are hardy in their indigenous environment.
Image: Connessioni territoriali: Connessioni Mostra collettiva arte contemporanea, “Connecting People” - Mamoiada (NU) (2019), Pietrina Atzori.
Atzori works not only on preserving the breed of sheep but the traditional needle-based techniques. This intangible cultural knowledge has been in danger of being forgotten, though it is making a comeback. She learned how to process the wool through artisans based in Italy, Finland, and Lithuania, and shares her knowledge by giving local workshops. She uses the wool to felt, weave, and knit artworks, but in 2019, feeling this was not enough to promote awareness of this small population of sheep, she visited about 30 Italian towns, riding a scooter 3500 kilometres in 17 days, from the south to the north of Italy, mailing a strip of black wool from each place to its mayor. The strips represent a symbolic joining of communities while sharing information about Arbus sheep. In January 2020, the Arbus Black Sheep Trademark was created by the Arbus city council, and it now has its own Geographic Collective Mark so that all products, whether milk, meat, cheese, wool, or even carvings made from their horns will be labelled with the trademark.
A recently sheared load of Zwartbles wool sits in enormous sacks in the barn Tallon and her partner built from scratch. While it is an easy wool to prepare because the first steps of cleaning and carding can be skipped, it is quite coarse, making it scratchy next to the skin but excellent as outerwear. Historically, this wool, called ‘burelle’ in French, was woven to make ‘bures’, the rough dark robes worn by monks. The black sheep’s wool of Arbus continues to be used in Sardinia to create the costumes for Mamuthones, masked men who perform an ancient ceremonial dance during Carnival. The heavy costume is composed of sheepskins of black wool supporting a cluster of enormous cow bells. When they dance, in a synchronised slow hopping motion, the bells jingle hypnotically.
Image: Connessioni territoriali: Connessioni Mostra collettiva arte contemporanea, “Connecting People” - Mamoiada (NU) (2019), Pietrina Atzori.
Tallon is a dedicated farmer who forms a bond with her sheep but also realises that she must sell the meat to justify having them. The primary source of income for her and partner, Sylvain Barcq, is their organic produce, but her love of animals motivated her to pursue raising this breed of sheep, choosing it to aid in preventing its extinction. For the two days a year the meat is sold, she insists the clients are aware of the breed’s story. Atzori is an artist who has found a medium that relates to her roots as a Sardinian. Both hope that the demand for their beloved black, cocoa, and caramel coloured wool will grow, and surely it will as the slow fashion movement expands and learning of DIY skills is shared through generational and community connections, whether to make art, garments, or community-connecting events such as Atzori’s Italy tour to connect its people through a strand of black wool.
Laëtitia Tallon’s farm is La Ferme des Fontaines in Fontaine-Daniel, Saint-Georges-Buttavent, Mayenne region of the Pays de la Loire, France.
Pietrina Atzori lives in San Sperate, Sardinia, Italy. Find out more on her website: www.atzoripietrina-art.com