The Edinburgh Reporter June 2022

12 FEATURE CANCER TAPESTRY
Martin P McAdam
All part of life’s rich
Phyllis Stephen speaks to
filmmaker Jon Gill about his
planned documentary
Andrew’s visceral
paintings on which the
tapestry will be based
(above and left)
Statue of Dr Helen
Crummy, MBE, outside
Craigmillar Library
(below)
Andrew Crummy
with an early sketch
The name Andrew Crummy goes
together with The Great Tapestry
of Scotland like bread and jam.
The result of a massive community
arts project, the work is now
housed in a bespoke building
down in Galashiels.
And the surname Crummy and Edinburgh -
particularly Craigmillar - also run together as
Andrew's late mother Dr Helen Crummy,
MBE, began the Craigmillar Art Festival, a
famous community event. There is a statue in
Dr Crummy's memory outside the Craigmillar
Library, and the Craigmillar Tapestry, also
created by Andrew, was officially launched on
World Community Arts Day in 2017. It is in
the spirit of community art that Andrew has
produced much of
his own work.
As with many
creatives, the urge to
turn something bad in
life into something good
overtook Andrew when
he was diagnosed and
treated for throat cancer in 2017. The tapestry is a
work in progress, although he has completed
drawings upon which it will be based. He talks to
people with cancer, and uses these chats to
interpret their personal stories with his talent.
The Great Tapestry of Scotland is made up of
164 panels, and The Cancer Tapestry is likely to be
as big if not even bigger. Crummy does not regard
the new work as something which belongs to him,
regarding it as something which belongs to
everybody, and that he just started it.
Award-winning filmmaker, Jon Gill, plans to
make a documentary series about the tapestry. Jon
explained the story so far. He said: "I first heard of