Owl, Leeds City Museum, Leeds, 03/01/15.

Tags

Africa, African Diaspora in the UK, Angel of Youths, Black History Month, graphic design, Leeds, Leeds City Museum, Museums, My Leeds My Culture, owls

Striking, isn’t it? Depictions of owls are not uncommon in Leeds, because owls appear on the city’s coat of arms, but I have never seen one like this. The banner is highlighting a relatively new exhibition at the Leeds City Museum entitled “My Leeds My Culture“. To quote from Leeds City Councils website:

“Curated by a local community group ‘Angel of Youths’, the ‘My Leeds My Culture’ display at Leeds City Museum, will launch on 18 October 2014 and run until October 2015 as part of Black History Month celebrations. The display highlights the African Diaspora contribution to Leeds culture through; music, sport, arts, history, faith and fashion“.

Why not pop in and have a look.

Photo Archive: Owls, Leeds Civic Hall, Leeds, c.2012.

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Anjou, heraldry, Leeds, Leeds Civic Hall, owls, Sir John Savile, The Norman Conquest

According to the Leeds Coat of Arms section of the Leeds Owl Trail website, Sir John Savile put the European Eagle Owls into Leeds. His ancestors arrived in England from Anjou during the Norman conquest and were awarded extensive property in Yorkshire by William The Conqueror, as a thank you for service rendered at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. So why did Sir John Savile adopt owls as his heraldic device? Nobody seems to know, but he was quick to get his favourite owls onto the Boroughs coat of arms when the city was given its first charter in 1626, during the reign of King Charles I.  If you’re interested in Leeds, heraldry or owls you might want to look at the Leeds Owl Trail map, which includes the owls photographed here, outside the Civic Hall.

Owl themed “Guerilla Knitting”, Haworth, 17/05/14.

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Guerilla Knitting, Haworth, Haworth 1940s weekend 2014, Knitting, owls, public art, Street Art, The Gothenburg Guerilla, Yarn bombing

The Haworth 1940’s Weekend was awash with photographers on Saturday, but I wonder how many of them spotted this colourful creation wrapped around a railing on Main Street. Luckily for you and I this work of art was labelled, “The Gothenburg Guerilla“, which lead me to this blog http://guerrillaknitting.wordpress.com/. Enjoy (you’ll find this work filed under “Haworth Bronte Village”).