Category: Craft

  • Remembering conflict

    An ongoing exhibition in Ulster, Northern Ireland, is about the textiles that memorialise conflict. Threads of Empowerment: Conflict Textiles’ International Journey brings together 29 pieces from across the globe, some of which are in the Museum’s collection. The textiles represent moments of of violence and conflict, violation and poverty, oppression and environmental issues as seen…

  • Making yarn – a start

    The wool industry of Aotearoa New Zealand has been declining, at least where what is termed “strong wool” is concerned. Strong wool is the wool that is not “fine”. In Aotearoa (pronounced “Ow-teeAh-raw-Ah”) fine wool almost automatically means merino type and strong refers to all other types. The definitions rely on micron count – the…

  • The Victorian Tapestry Workshop

    The Victorian Tapestry Workshop is based in Melbourne and is one of the world’s centres for the art form. The Australian Tapestry Workshop, as it is now known, was established in 1976 to produce innovative, exciting and rich artworks in collaboration with artists who work in many mediums, the weavers of their designs and the…

  • Preparing wool

    A few years ago a friend gave me a set of rather splendid books; The Textile Industries is a comprehensive yet easily-read catalogue of all the information that anyone could want about textiles. In these volumes – 8 in total – the ways in which “Fibres, Yarns and Fabrics in every branch of Textile Manufacture”…

  • Knitwear from the 1980s

    A new book has been added to the library recently: The Pure New Wool Designer Knitwear Collection published in 1986. The 1980s stand out as a time when fashion became neon bright, when day-glo hues were de rigueur and when it was considered good taste to be dressed in flashy colours. This book though shows…

  • Mount White Station

    New Zealand Aotearoa is known for its farming culture and Mount White is home to one of the famous high-country stations. Mount White Station is on the Canterbury side of the Southern Alps/ Kā Tiritiri o Te Moana, the huge range that runs the length of Te Waipounamu/ The South Island. With much of the…

  • Black History Month

    February is Black History Month, a celebration that is marked by the birthdays of famous abolitionist Americans: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Black History Month is recognised in the North America, Europe and Africa, and in the USA the annual event has a theme. This year it is “African Americans and Labor“ The music, fashion…

  • The Way We Wore

    An insightful and fascinating series on Netflix at the moment explores the evolution and history of fashion in Australia. Presented by Celeste Barber and made in 2023, The Way We Wore is a three-part series that takes a chronological look at how fashion has influenced history Down Under and has helped to create the modern…

  • Like the Turf

    Caroline McQuarrie’s Like the Turf has just opened at the Left Bank Art Gallery in Greymouth Māwhera. Caroline is an artist from the Coast who now lives in Wellington Pōneke. She was interviewed in 2023 as part of the Conversation and Cloth series and has returned to Māwhera to open this show, previously at the…

  • Fashion in the Louvre

    The first ever fashion exhibition at Le Louvre, the Paris museum, recently opened. Louvre Couture matches the museum’s extensive collections of decorative art with pieces from some of the world’s greatest fashion design houses and emerging talents – Chanel, Gaultier, Givenchy, Prada, Balenciaga… in a nod to not only inspiration but also an acknowledgement of…