Category: Textiles

  • South Asia Research Fellowships

    If you are already doing research in South Asian textiles, or would like to do so, this might be an interesting opportunity. The Impart & Nalli Fellowships are offering two Fellowship of one year each to independent research and product development. Projects can be in any textile-centric area but ideas related to the following are…

  • Pomo Basketmaking

    A new book for the library collection has been added. Pomo Basketmaking: a supreme art for the maker is a Californian publication from Naturegraph (1972. 1988 edition). Edited by Vinson Brown, this volume is a history of the basketmaker, Elsie Allen and an exploration of her work in the art of Pomo basketry. The book…

  • The colour “Giraffe”

    “La Belle Africaine” arrived in 1820s Paris and immediately became a sensation. She was a giraffe from Sudan, transported as a baby on the back of camels, shipped across the sea, and walked to court to be presented to the King of France: Charles X. As a giraffe had not been seen in France before…

  • Tartan in Aotearoa

    The Scottish tartan has spread across the globe and in New Zealand it is a source of pride for many. Tartan, with its immediately recognisable patterns and colours, is not just a Scottish invention. In many cultures, cloth is made with crossing lines of warp and weft, but Scotland has managed to imbue its tartan…

  • The new website is growing

    The Textile Trust, Aotearoa will soon have its new website. The website is growing with pages about the library and textile collection, the blog and a section for classes and workshops. There is also a new idea. Every week someone sends something in for the blog and it is hard to keep track of all…

  • The colour red

    Red is a striking colour with an ancient history when it comes to textiles. Most of us know about cochineal, the insects from which the colour carmine is obtained, but there are other ways to get the hue. In Europe, North Africa and the Near East, where madder was extensively used, red has gone in…

  • The new website

    As regular readers of the blog will know, there is to be a new website for The Textile Trust, Aotearoa. The Textile Trust has been established to promote, further and advance textiles knowledge and appreciation, and it operates from the textile studio in Greymouth. As part of that work the weekly blog will continue but…

  • A visit to Ōtautahi/ Christchurch

    It has been an exciting week in the studio, which began with a visit over the mountains to our nearest city: Christchurch Ōtautahi. The visit should have happened last week but, upon arriving at Otira, the start of Arthur’s Pass over the Alps, my travelling companion, Maria, and I discovered that a lorry had spilt…

  • Tamara Kosianovsky

    Tamara Kostianovsky uses textiles to create sculpture and installations that comment on consumerism, violence and the environment. The Argentinian American artist repurposes discarded clothing into works that depict animals, birds, trees and plants. In one exhibition – Tree Stumps – she used her late father’s clothing to make evocative sculptures that reference not only the…

  • A space saree

    A saree (sari) that has an illustrious history has been added to the collection of the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian. The saree was worn by in 2013 when the Indian space orbiter mission to Mars, Mangalyaan, successfully reached Mars, the first Asian country to do so and the fourth in the…