Unsung indigenous women behind moon landing celebrated in art

More than a thousand unsung women whose circuits helped man land on the moon have inspired two Kent artists to celebrate the historic moment of 1969.

The work is based on the female Navajo weavers who were employed for their perceived dexterity to make microchips in New Mexico in the sixties, which were used by NASA in the Apollo Guidance Computer.

Moon Landing is by weaver Margo Selby and composer Helen Caddick is a 16m (52ft) handwoven textile suspended from The Trinity Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral, accompanied by an original score for six strings.

The tapestry is described as a celebration of the crossover of mathematical patterns, tone and rhythm found in weaving and music and will remain in the chapel until 31 August.

Ms Caddick said she was inspired by a weaving tool to compose music about space exploration.

She said: “I had gone to see Margo weave and I noticed that she used a shuttle to move the thread along and that made me start to think about space.”

She added that when she had saw documentaries or films about the space shuttle, she noticed there was an “indicator light flashing in the cabin”.

“So so I took the rhythm of that to mirror in the harp part,” she said.

In turn, Ms Selby translated the musician’s work into textile art.

The textile artist said: “With these incredible carvings and shapes, to see my contemporary work hanging alongside them is truly thrilling.”

Some 1,200 indigenous people – mostly women – were employed to work at a Fairchild Semiconductor factory in Shiprock, New Mexico, from 1965, during the United States’ race to the moon.

The manufacturer was tasked with building complicated microchips for NASA’s Apollo Guidance Computer, which was integral to space missions.

A contemporary brochure from Fairchild compared the intricate work creating elaborate microchips to weaving the Navajo population’s traditional tapestries.

However, these women who contributed to the space race were largely overlooked in their time.

The Dean of Canterbury Cathedral David Monteith said the chapel was excited to celebrate the work of art.

“In life sometimes things can become a bit grey scale but this is such an assault of colour that it gladdens the heart and that’s such a gift,” he said.