Principality of the Mists: Arts and Sciences
Mists A&S Competition/Display Schedule: 2024
Trade Goods
Greetings to the Populace of the Mists!
In the coming year we will have 8 A&S competitions set out over 4 events as part of the Silver Muse Competition, during which we will explore how people across the world have risked life and limb for the items that fill the needs for beauty, health, and wealth. This category encourages artisans to explore how these items have encouraged trade, created conflict, and inspired interactions between cultures within the scope of the SCA period as they continue to do so in the modern era.
All Artisans, Bards, Calligraphers, Natural Scientists, Poets, Illuminators, and Creatives from throughout the kingdom are invited to pursue the arts by creating displays of their work, teaching classes, and discussing their creations, whether it be a material object, an intellectual subject, or a historical topic.
For details on the Silver Muse competition see: Silver Muse Rules.
For questions, email artssciences@mists.westkingdom.org.
Spring Coronet
Competition One: Salt
Salt is the stuff of life, and every culture has required its use for not only for its culinary purposes, but also for medicinal, spiritual, and practical uses. This topic can include “salts” like natron, which had been used in Egyptian Mummification rituals. Salt has been so valuable that it has inspired common phrases, placenames, and has been used to describe entire peoples. What purposes, traditions, and stories can you share for this valuable commodity?
Competition Two: Spices
In addition to being delicious, spices have been used in medicine, religious rituals, cosmetics, or perfume production for their purported health and spiritual benefits. In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices have always been seen as a luxury and an item of prestige that have inspired some of our longest held traditions. Perfect for a display or richly scented dish!
Spring Investiture
Competition Three: Precious Metals
Long believed to hold magical powers, precious metals such as gold and silver were believed to be able to confer qualities upon their bearer such as kingship, purity, and at times even occult knowledge. The desire for these precious elements leads to trade, war, exploration across the globe, and the careful study of alchemy and other natural sciences. The Romans learned to redirect water to topple mountains in search of them, and entire civilizations have arisen and crumbled based on their value. To this day precious metals have continued to be prohibitively expensive, and cheaper alternatives were always being sought out. What arts or sciences can you embellish or explore that shine with metal?
Competition Four: Silk or Textiles
From the shimmering cocoons of insects, to the burn of stinging nettles, textiles have been sought out and traded for their comfort, color, and drape since time immemorial. In addition to the famed Silk Road, named of only one of the many items traded along its routes, hemp and cotton were often sought out for their strength and breathability. In the Americas, the wool of llamas and alpaca provided the warmth needed for Andean climes. Throughout history, textiles have been associated with wealth or poverty, lechery and hermeticism. Entrants are encouraged to explore the processes of textile production, trade, and folkloric value of textile goods.
Fall Coronet
Competition Five: Exotic Animals
Giraffes, lions, and leopards from Africa. Peacocks, Elephants, and Tigers from India. All these and more found their way to Europe for the glory of the Roman Empire. Living creatures as luxury goods are the greatest of prestige items, showing proof of the owner’s wealth in being able to purchase, feed, and maintain these beasts. In addition to living beasts, these creatures were replicated in home furnishings, mosaics, and paintings, sometimes with hilarious results for those attempting to recreate a creature they have never truly seen!
Competition Six: Games
As cultures interact through trade of conquest, traditions and pastimes can be passed on to others. The earliest known texts referring to the origins of the game of chess date to the beginning of the 7th century. Initially written in Arabic, these texts passed down rules and techniques that were later adopted and modified in the Christian West, where the pastime became associated with the Educated and Noble classes. Game sets of all kinds predate Chess, and game pieces can be made of humble clay or rare materials such as ivory. Entrants are encouraged to depict a game, recreate a gameboard, or teach a class on how to play a period game of their choosing.
Fall Investiture
Competition Seven: Dye Stuffs
From Cochineal in the Americas and Tyrian Purple from Mollusks, to Sappan Wood from Asia, the search for exotic and rare colors has driven the creation of secretive Dyer’s guilds, driven exploration to find faster routes across the globe by sea, and led to industrial espionage! Trade in goods such as Cochineal have inspired scientific debate over the (sometimes mystical) origins of these precious goods. Entrants for this category are encouraged to examine topics including the cultivation, discovery, and processes associated with these materials in addition to the finished goods that they are used to create.
Competition Eight: Maps and Navigation Devices
So, you want to seek riches and fame by trading in rare goods, but how do you get there? If you are lucky enough to have a guide, how do they know where they are going. Will there be places of safety or danger along the way? To solve this issue, Cartographers, those who study and create maps, began attempting to plot out the boarders of the known world. If you have a map, how do you read it? Is there a way to calculate the time or distance between two points on the map? Will you travel at night and use the stars to guide you on your way? Entrants are encouraged to research a map in their preferred period and culture, and to recreate a map or navigation device to assist travelers throughout the Known World.