‘more hands hold’(2025) by George H. Wale and Sophie Mak-Schram

silk organza, toggles, elastic and stone tools collection from Amgueddfa Cymru School Outreach Collection.

These large sheer curtains/walls/dividers hold 77 pre-historic stone tools in 77 silk organza pockets, with 77 bespoke silk organza pouches.

Sophie invited me to collaborate on learning and mapping power in the museum, together with other. Our working together began with explorations of how to hide and reveal objects, until sophie came across a box of archeological stone tools whilst viewing objects with Elizabeth Walker (principle curator: collections & access).

These pre-historic stone tools were once lent to Welsh school to held, touched, learnt from/with, now orphaned and separated from their museum numbers and so no longer in use.

I got to live my childhood dream: pretending to be an archaeologist for the day and re-number, draw, measure, and weigh these stone tools and give them new life to be touched again as part of this work.

The works form and scale were informed by the wider installation ‘To Shift a Stone’ - a two part exhibition by Sophie and collaborators at National Museum Cardiff and Chapter Arts Centre.

Diolch Sophie, all staff at National Museum and to Peak Cymru for additional space support when making.

Photographs: Dan Weill