Lydia Needle’s FIFTY BEES project thoughtfully weaves art, environmental activism, and community involvement into a compelling narrative celebrating the often-overlooked diversity of British bees. Each iteration builds deeper ecological and creative insight, raising awareness, teaching, and inspiring change, one tiny bee at a time.

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Huge thanks to Catherine Hill from Arnold's Attic for a lovely interview about the last FIFTY BEES exhibition. Click on the picture link to watch. 

 

From the video:

In 2016 artist Lydia Needle started a project focussing on British bees - named ‘FIFTY BEES: The Interconnectedness of All Things’ - a collaborative art project about Britains 275 bees; each year Lydia makes 50 from wool, stitch and vintage containers and invites fifty collaborative artists to make work in response to the ecology of one bee. Lydia lives and works in Somerset, England. Filmed at the Fifty Bees 5 Exhibition, Somerton in 2022.

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Artists mentioned:

• Catherine Hill:   / catherine_hill_textile_artist  

• Tzipporah Johnston:   / tzipporahfeiga  

• Claire Cooper-Walsh:   / ccooperwalsh  

• Donna Vale

• Lytes Cary Manor House: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lyte...