The Nature of Textiles – exhibition opening

(This article was originally published on the 25th September)

This Friday saw the opening of The Nature of Textiles exhibition at the Left Bank Gallery in Greymouth Mawhera.

The show is a celebration of materials and design that comes from the natural world and there are pieces from around the world on display for a month. During that time there will be a guided talk of the pieces and that date will be advised on the blog. (Note: the date for the talk is the 20th October at 10am). Below you can see the exhibition moments before the opening and the texts that go alongside the pieces are here: Natural Worlds texts. More than seventy people attended the opening event, many wearing fabulous clothes and costumes. It was a joyous occasion and clearly everyone enjoyed themselves.

Putting up the show took four days. The pieces were pre-selected and, once the main parts were done, the gaps were filled in. The hanging and final texts finished at 1pm on Friday, just before a visit to the studio to choose outfits and the preparation of food and wine for the opening at six.

The exhibition is of pieces from the constantly growing studio collection. The collection spans two thousand years of textile production and includes art, books, cloth, fashion and clothing. It is currently housed above the Regent Theatre in Mawhera (although is rapidly outgrowing that space) and can be viewed by appointment.