Go big or go home: how The Lost Giants revived the ancient art of goliath-making

Giants made for public processions appeared across Lostwithiel on New Year’s Eve, drawing people from their homes into a procession filled with lights, drums, and music. The event centered on The Lost Giants, an art collective reviving British traditions of making giants and beasties. The giants are built from wooden frames and cloth, papier-mache, and card, and are designed to feel alive during parades. Such processional mascots were historically created by workers’ guilds and villages, and they are now returning through renewed interest in community activism, folk culture, and craft. The collective has produced giants for lantern parades and harvest processions and is seeking an environmental group to collaborate on a new beastie.

"At a certain time of the evening, they started appearing from all over the town. Then everyone flooded out of their houses and congregated into a massive procession of giants and lights and drums and music. It was absolutely extraordinary. Schneidau's fairytale experience happened in Lostwithiel, the Cornish home town of the art collective The Lost Giants (TLG), a group of craftspeople and artists reviving the British tradition of making giants and beasties and goliaths."

"The giants she celebrated with were made of wooden frames and cloth, papier-mache and card, but were full of life. In medieval times, it was common for workers' guilds and villages across the UK to create enormous mascots. Now, thanks to a growing interest in community activism, folk and craft, these processional giants are making a spirited comeback. In recent years, TLG has made giants for events ranging from the annual lantern parade in a Cornish town to a harvest procession at Hauser & Wirth's Somerset gallery."

"This month, it has issued a public callout for an environmental group that would like to collaborate with it to make its very own beastie. TLG was founded three years ago by theatre designer Ruth Webb and her sister-in-law AmyWebb, a designer and illustrator. Schneidau joined the collective last year after spending most of her career working at various wildlife trusts."

"Ruth has a long history with giants, having lived with one since childhood. Her father, John Webb, ran the Cornwall folk festival for years and, after encountering these magical creations at European festivals, he had his own giant called Peter, made by Michael and Wendy Dacre of theatre company, Raven Tales. Peter was the first giant to parade the streets of Lostwithiel in 1990, Ruth's hometown, on New Year's Eve."

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