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Select Showcase & Conference

Showcase Sophie Z 4Select Showcase opens in Cheltenham in the historic Cheltenham Town Hall running for 3 days: 23rd – 25th October.

Presented by SITselect the Showcase will be a 3 day festival,  bringing individual maker stands plus a stimulating mix of talks, workshops, demonstrations. There is also a  one day conference.

There are 78 makers’ stands, 4 Colleges of Art and Design showing graduate’s work, an area featuring World Textile stands and exhibitions of contemporary craft work. There is the chance to learn something new, buy something extraordinary, or just admire the outstanding creativity of our designers and crafts people.

A major part of the Showcase is a series of talks with speakers immersed in the world of weaving.

Rethreaded series of talks
Friday 23rd  offers a series of stimulating talks around weaving journeys.

In Conversation Penny Wheeler & Maryrose Watson

Chair: Theo Wright
Penny Wheeler is a hand-loom weaver and artist who explores the complexities of the craft whilst also subverting the conventions of the discipline.
Maryrose and Penny will be in conversation with Theo Wright discussing how they work, the freedom and limitations of working within a grid and how colour informs their practice.

Jilly Edwards in conversation with Ismini Samanidou
Two tapestry greats delve into their different methods of working.
Jilly is a tapestry weaver and Ismini a weaver both hand weaving and jacquard. They have a shared language and a common understanding through threads.
Chaired by Felicity Aylieff
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A Place for Craft: Conference – London Craft Week

XC6C5759lowresThe Heritage Craft Association Conference Sat 9th May 2015

‘A Place for Craft’ is the theme for this year’s conference on Saturday 9th May at the V&A Museum – which will place makers and craftspeople at the heart of the conference and the discussions.

The conference will highlight the relationship between crafts and location – focusing on those crafts which have developed in particular regions or locations, and why craftspeople have chosen to live and work in areas with a special tie to their craft. Speakers include Sir Christopher Frayling and Genevieve Sioka, artisan buyer for the National Trust, and makers and craftspeople will again be able to bring and exhibit the tools of their trade at the conference.

The conference falls during London Craft Week, 6-10 May. The HCA is a strategic partner for London Craft. This inaugural festival will celebrate traditional skills and new talent, and showcase the work and expertise of craftspeople in major galleries and individual workspaces across London. During the festival, the HCA will hold the first HCA craft photography exhibition, featuring finalists of a competition run by the HCA and sponsored by Furniture Village, at the Prince’s Foundation in Shoreditch

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London Craft Week

Daniel Harris at London Cloth CompanyLondon Craft Week  6 – 10th May 2015 is a new annual, not-for-profit event which showcases exceptional craftsmanship through a journey-of-discovery programme featuring hidden workshops, celebrated makers, other lesser known makers and highly specialised skills alongside famous shops, galleries and luxury brands.

Founded on the ethos of making, London Craft Week aims to put craftsmanship at centre stage of the world’s creative capital by introducing the talent, people and techniques behind beautifully made things to a wider audience. They will be able to experience craft not just as static branded objects in smart shops but understand the context of how they were made, why they are special and even have a try themselves.

Weavers involved in London Craft Week include :

Daniel Harris, who set up The London Cloth Company in 2010,  has single-handedly sourced, rebuilt and restored numerous power looms of historical significance dating from as early as 1870 to 1970. Since then the London Cloth Company has grown into a renowned international brand, supplying a range of cottons and woollens to top designers.  He will set up a power loom and be weaving at DAKS, 10 Old Bond Street, London W1S 4PL, on May 7th 2015 from 10.30am – 17.00

London Cloth Company image credit: Beth Saunders Continue reading →

Katherine Swailes & Caron Penney: Tapestry Exhibition & Workshop

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Katharine Swailes and Caron Penney will be exhibiting at Zimmer Stewart Gallery  June 6 – 27th 2015. They both travelled repeatedly to New York City over a twelve year period whilst working on a large commission. During this influential time both artists were inspired by the urban landscape, street architecture, museum collections and natural environment. Mapping this journey through photography, note taking and sketches to their resulting work in woven textiles.

 ‘Manhattan’ is the beginning of a new chapter for both the artists, one which has involved shedding the past and emerging into new avenues.

 Swailes has created textiles for over 20 years, specifically working in tapestry for the last two decades. She specialises in both conventional flat wall works and smaller three-dimensional, sculptural pieces – as well as weaving large scale commissions at West Dean Tapestry Studio. Swailes is interested in the constructively open ended nature of the medium.

 Recent works explore the textures, systems and structure of Central Manhattan – using a limited palette of techniques, materials and colour. The inclusion of gold thread offers a contrast in structure to the natural fibres of cotton, linen and wool. This latest series of works draws on the collections in museums, the parks and streets of Manhattan.

 Penney has also been producing tapestries for over 20 years and is a Master Tapestry Weaver. As well as working on high-profile commissions for the West Dean Tapestry Studio and her own Weftfaced Tapestry Workshop, Penney is a prolific exhibition-led weaver in her own right. ‘A defining characteristic of her oeuvre as an artist is the use of visual semiotics in expressing autobiographical themes’ (from Tapestry, A Woven Narrative: Black Dog Publishing 2012).

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Textile Institute Talk: Futuristic Textiles

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Bill Macbeth will outline some of the ground breaking technology developments happening in Yorkshire including the world firsts in true 3D weaving system  to create components for the aerospace and automotive sectors and the Laser Plasma technology producing dry waterproof and fire retardant treatments using no fluorocarbons.   Bill will also introduce the forensic anti counterfeit treatment utilising restructured botanical DNA.

Studio Houndstooth launches The Houndstooth Project

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Studio Houndstooth launches The Houndstooth Project – a serious play, ludic, egalitarian project, which uses the well-recognised, houndstooth textile motif as the starting point for a public engagement making project for everyone and anyone as either individuals or as collaborators, using any media or approach, actual or virtual. See the website to download instructions and how to participate. Continue reading →

Exhibition: Dash + Miller / Peta Jacobs

Low res D&M pic 1Counterpoint—design meets art. A showcase of textiles from two perspectives

Exclusive hand-woven textile design samples destined for the catwalk will sit beside mini installations that present space-altering abstract worlds. At first glance they appear poles apart, but both originate from the same source—textiles.

Internationally renowned hand-woven textile designers Dash & Miller will exhibit a compendium of their most current designs, alongside art pieces by Peta Jacobs. This juxtaposition of works will  demonstrates very different interpretations of textile practice and will show at the A&D Gallery, Chiltern Street, W1U 6LY from 13-17 January 2015.

The encounter between high-end design and conceptual art delivers an unexpected linkage that challenges the bounds of textile genres. In their meeting, there are correspondences, such as the use of visual repetition. There are also divergences, particularly in the outcomes.

Each of Dash & Miller’s exclusive miniature textile concepts represents a unique idea of colour, texture and form; artworks usually never seen outside of the industry they inform. Every piece is meticulously woven by hand using both traditional and cutting edge techniques and materials, designed with the sole purpose of feeding ideas to product designers and fabric producers across a vast spectrum of textile related industries.

Peta Jacobs’ artworks invite the viewer to question certainty and perception by presenting shifting views relative to viewpoint. They incorporate vestiges of cloth, along with abstract films, prisms and mirrors. “Peta Jacob’s uses of cloth, mirrors and digital technologies have a magical, alchemic resonance as they enfold and draw us into that borderline space between what we know and what we imagine”, says Lesley Millar, Professor of Textile Culture, University for the Creative Arts.

Counterpoint—design meets art is showing at A&D Gallery, 51 Chiltern Street, London W1U 6LY (nearest tube is Baker Street).

The show runs from Tuesday 13th January until Saturday 17th January.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday: 10.30am to 7.00pm.
Saturday: 10.30 am to 4pm. Continue reading →

Making it in Textiles: Report

WCW ConferenceOn 14th/15th October 2015, 120 woven textile and textile degree students, tutors and manufacturers from the UK attended a conference in Bradford,  fully funded by The Worshipful Company of Weavers, The Clothworkers’ Company, the Campaign for Wool and the WoolMark Company.

The conference was held in response to Course Tutors feed back ,that at times it was difficult to take students on visits to manufacturers to see industrial processes, therefore making the links to what they were studying about manufacturing at university.

Additionally the students are not always getting first hand experience at talking to manufacturers.

The Conference  provided the chance for manufacturers to discuss other career opportunities, not just in design for textile graduates but also in manufacturing and quality control. as there is currently a resurgence of employment opportunities in UK textile manufacturing, alongside a skills and talent gap.

All delegates had the opportunity of a visit to manufacturers on the 15th Oct. The participating mills were Abraham Moon, Hainsworth, Pennine Weavers, R Gledhill Ltd and Mallalieus of Delph

WCW Conference Pennine Weavers Continue reading →

Exhibition: Common Threads

British Council, Common Thread exhibition, photograph by simon mills high 8 The Anou Residencies
In a new British Council residency programme, UK-based designer Sabrina Kraus López  lived with Anou artisans in the Atlas Mountains, collaborating on new designs and approaches based on the Amazigh’s traditional weaving techniques.

Over a one-month period Sabrina worked with six artisans to create the Common Thread collection, a series of bespoke hand woven rugs inspired by the Berber’s heritage, surroundings and personal stories.

Through exchanging stories and knowledge, six-limited edition contemporary rugs have been created that each celebrate and draw inspiration from the artisan’s own culture and personal background.

These rugs also form the basis of an exhibition specially curated by Faculty (Moira Lascelles and Kieren Jones) at Designjunction during the London Design Festival 2014. The exhibition will tell the story of the residency and the rugs and will include a film by Simon Mills and a publication designed by Laura Gordon.
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Texprint Weavers: Indigo, Paris

Texprint2013-logo-with382strapline_2spotcolTexprint interviews, mentors and promotes the UK’s most talented textile design graduates with the support of industry professionals worldwide.

Those selected are introduced to buyers, press and sponsors at the Texprint London event, and at Europe and Asia’s leading yarn and textile exhibitions.

Texprint is entirely funded by the generous sponsorship of industry and by British charitable foundations.  Their sponsors believe wholeheartedly in supporting textile design talent and in encouraging design innovation and excellence. Source: Texprint website

The following 2014 weave graduates were selected, initially exhibited their work in July in London and will each have a stand to show their designs  within ‘Texprint Village’ Hall 5 at Indigo trade Fair, Hall 5, Stand 5Y60, Première Vision Pluriel, Parc d’Expositions de Paris-Nord. Sept 16th – 18th 2015.

The winners of the awards will be announced in Paris on 17th Sept 2014 and the awards will be presented by Nino Cerruti, Designer and Head of the Biella based Textile Mill, Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti.

Texprint Weavers

ZanaAjvaziB-1Zana Ajvazi

Zanas’ work is described as contemporary woven textiles that mediate between concepts of social and digital impact, to facilitate innovative design for the body.

Zana is inspired by research into material innovation, and the crossovers between textiles and other disciplines, including science and socio-economics; also the intricacy and interplay of different cultures, materials and traditional weaving techniques. Zana graduated from Central Saint Martins, University of The Arts London – BA (Hons) Textile Design. Zana has been selected for an internship in Como, Italy.

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