Rope Artisans

Cape Breton played a large part in Nova Scotia’s seafaring history, with Fortress Louisbourg occupying a starring role.  Residents of the town of Louisbourg and the surrounding area often act as animators at the present day fortress, helping bring to life many of the traditional skills and techniques so important to the seafarers and soldiers in the 18th century fortress and its adjacent town.  

Rope artisan Sandra Sajatovitch is such an animator, using her rope-knotting skills to share this small part of history with thousands of Fortress Louisbourg visitors annually.  Traditional Celtic knotwork, prevalent in nautical knotwork throughout history, resonate through a number of her designs

Sandra consigns her rope mats, trivets and other nautical pieces to Arts North, adding not only another dimension of Cape Breton history and culture to the collection, but also the sweet smell of raw rope to the gallery.