Mapping Earth Exhibition at The Royal Geographical Society
13th - 17th May and until September 2nd by appointment
Maps can excite, engage, inspire, motivate and document history. Playing with scale and volume, whether it's a pocket globe putting the world in your hand, or topography with amplified relief Loraine Rutt’s new work celebrates mapping Earth. The Royal Geographical Society, which was founded in 1830 to advance geographical science, is the UK’s learned society for geography. The Director’s Gallery, which is housed within this Grade II listed building, is not normally open to the public. The Society have generously agreed to host exclusive exhibition tours with the artist Loraine Rutt for London Craft Week. The gallery visit will last from 20 minutes to 45 minutes with time to talk to the artists and ask questions. TOUR PLACES ARE STRICTLY LIMITED AND BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL Please arrive shortly before 14.00 Event details and directions will be issued to booked guests. Recently selected as a Master Craftsman by Homo Faber, and elected as a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society, Loraine Rutt’s practice is honed by three decades of fine clay yielding to fingertips, using improvised tools to create surfaces with map-like clarity. Combining cartography with traditional ceramic techniques, her intriguing limited-edition globes and wall reliefs are inspired by satellite data, astronaut observations, historic cartography and social research. Her pieces have been described as ‘work which excitingly illustrates the fusion of Concept, Content and Traditional Craft’. Commissions include special editions for The Fife Arms, Linley, an Apollo 15 astronaut, and a bespoke pocket globe for The Royal Observatory. World Skills Organisation commissioned a series of pocket globes which were presented to world leaders, and museum purchases include The Museum of London and The National Maritime Museum.