After JK Rowling’s name appeared on a public tapestry celebrating women, anonymous stitchers twice crossed out her name with stitching made to resemble the trans flag. The National Trust, the UK’s chief heritage and conservation charity, who have defended the overstitching, has now removed the artwork to prevent continued “tampering.”
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The National Trust originally invited visitors to the Hardwick Hall museum in Derbyshire to contribute stitching to artwork called Virtuous Woman between April and November 2024. In February, the final artwork was officially unveiled, and it featured the names the public had nominated as examples of “a contemporary virtuous woman.”
This included JK Rowling’s name, which appeared seven times on the artwork. Two instances of her name had been stitched over with the colors of the trans flag.
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According to GB News, The National Trust described the artwork at the time as a “collaborative piece of art formed of participants’ views from a variety of age groups, life experiences and beliefs.” For this reason, the charity permitted the overstitching to remain, saying only that “contributions to the piece have been made by those who chose to take part.”
“The artwork was open to contributions for eight months and closed in November when the piece was finished and put on public display,” the National Trust explained.
“During the participation phase, JK Rowling’s name was stitched onto the piece seven times and in two instances it was stitched over by other participants.
“At the time the artwork was completed and subsequently hung, JK Rowling’s name appeared five times without any overstitching.”
Now, after TERF activist Jean Hatchet removed the overstitching outside the participation phase, the National Trust has taken the artwork down. “We ask people not to damage or tamper with artworks once they are finished and on public display,” a spokesperson told Pink News.
“The piece has been taken off display for investigation and to protect it from further tampering or damage. We take all claims and incidents of damage to items in our care seriously and investigate each one.
“We are now taking time to review the artwork and consider options for redisplay.”
At the time of writing, Rowling has not commented on news. She has more recently been busy setting up legal funding for court cases against trans women.
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