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Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
In 1966 a coal tip collapsed onto the village of Aberfan near Merthyr Tydfil, crushing a school and killing 116 children and 28 adults. Fifty years later, Rozanne Hawksley felt the need to create something to express her feelings, not intending it to be exhibited. The result feels like a Victorian mourning object – a wreath covered in black silk and netting contains a dirty, damaged child’s mitten. Two ribbons have hand-written inscriptions: 'Aberfan: 21st October 1966' and 'Nos da, Cariad x'. The artist said she didn’t want the work framed, but “to look like a little lost anonymous glove”. Rozanne Hawksley explored life’s biggest questions, such as human suffering and the abuse of power, but without making grand gestures. She used humble objects to create works full of poignant power.
Wreath, mixed media, the ring of the wreath covered in black silk to the surface of which are stitched meandering lines of black beads, in the centre a soiled and damaged child's mitten knitted in white wool, the whole enclosed in netting, a black bow fixed to the bottom edge and incorporting two ribbons each with a hand-written inscription: 'Aberfan: 21st October 1966' and 'Nos da, Cariad x'.
