Category: Art

  • Woven Histories

    New York’s Museum of Modern Art is currently hosting Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction. The show, on until 13th September this year, connects the development of ideas in abstract art with textiles and clothing. (The MoMA magazine offers seven ways to experience the exhibition.) With artists and makers such as Anni Albers, Olga de…

  • What’s on Spotify?

    This week’s playlist features: Haneko odori by Tomoe-Ryu Yutadaiko This traditional Japanese taiko drumming piece was recorded in Québec, Canada by the ensemble. The title, taken from the album, is translated as “Bouncing Dance”. Elijah. Op. 70. MWV A25 by Felix Mendelssohn Contralto Clara Serena continues this playlist with a piece from Elijah, the oratorio…

  • CTANZ symposium

    Costume and Textiles Aotearoa New Zealand is holding its annual symposium in a couple of weeks in Dunedin. CTANZ is a membership association of enthusiasts, curators, artists, makers, educators, researchers… anyone with an interest in textiles and costumes is able to join and attend symposium at a discounted fee. This year the theme of is…

  • Old movies on YouTube

    In the days when films in the cinema were categorised (“A” – the main feature, “B” for a shorter accompaniment to go with the main film, and, below that, “C” and even “Z”) the big breaks into the movie industry for actors and designers often came through the “B” movies. With the advent of television,…

  • Mitsuko Asakura

    Mitsuko Asakura is a Japanese artist from Kyoto. Kyoto is home to the famous Gion Festival with its elaborate floats of textiles and sculpture, bearing witness to the city’s rich textile history. Asakura became interested in dyeing – her father was a skilled dyer – and weaving at an early age and her work has…

  • A new look at migration

    Migration is a hot topic and one that has defined the 20th and 21st Centuries but it is troublesome to collect accurate data about migration patterns. This is where social media can help. Social media collects data about location; anyone who uses any of the platforms will have signed up and provided an address. This…

  • Breathing life into an old woollen mill

    Finding uses for buildings that no longer are used can be tricky. Creativity to the rescue! A disused woollen mill in the town of Lobethal, South Australia is now a destination for anyone who works in or is interested in art, especially where textiles are concerned. Featuring spaces for workshops, residencies, studios and retail, the…

  • Nordic Echoes

    New York’s Scandinavia House is currently playing host to a fascinating exhibition of Nordic traditions in the United States. Emigration from Northern Europe to the Upper Midwest of the States began in earnest in the 19th Century, driven by political instability, lack of food security and the widening gap between rich and poor supported by…

  • Update on the studio

    The studio in Greymouth has been filled-up with the equipment and items from Shetland and now it is being slowly emptied as things go to their new homes. Last weekend the studio was stuffed with loom parts and computers and warping mills and books; all the paraphernalia that goes into weaving. This week the small…

  • Open studio weekend in Greymouth

    This weekend it has been the first Open Studios in Māwhera/ Greymouth. Organised by the Left Bank Art Gallery, the Open Studios has seen visitors travelling around the district to visit artists and craftspeople in their workplaces. Yesterday, Saturday, the textile studio saw forty people through the doors. Many were local but a few were…