Tag: art

  • Still Life with Hat, Glasses and Scarf

    Dick Frizzell’s Still Life with Hat, Glasses and Scarf has just been bought for the collection. This limited edition work, number 17 of 24, is a lithgraph. It was created in 1988 and the original, a gouache, is in the Arts House Trust collection. One of Aotearoa New Zealand’s best-known artists for his work referencing…

  • The suitcase exhibitions

    Quilting is a craft but it is also an art. In 1988, the Australian Quilters’ Guild created a travelling exhibition of small quilts. These were designed to fit into suitcases in order to travel the country, bringing people together in a vast network of experience and expertise. For the show, forty-three textile artists from Australia…

  • Weaving flax

    Phormium tenax, New Zealand flax, has long been a staple material for weavers but it was not always just used by hand-weavers. In the latter part of the 19th Century and into the Twentieth, flax was commercially grown for use in factories where hard-wearing floor coverings and mats were made. In a fascinating film, complete…

  • The Herds

    Have you been following The Herds? This huge public art project brilliantly brings the plight and flight of animals at a time of climate change, habitat destruction and enforced movement to life.

  • The impact of tourism

    Tourism can be good but there are downsides to it. In the Maldives, tourism is having an impact on the lives of the islands’ inhabitants. In “Local Living”, a project of images and videos taken of a rapidly changing culture, Ali Assadhu from the island of Kinbidhoo works to preserve traditions before they disappear forever.…

  • New books for the library

    There are three new books in the library: Design from Peasant Art, Make Your Own Rugs and Central Otago Couture: The Eden Hore Collection. Kathleen Mann’s book about design from colloquial art was published in London by Adam and Charles Black in 1939 and this edition is the reprinted edition from 1952. It is a…

  • CTANZ symposium – Fascination

    The recent Costume and Textiles Aotearoa New Zealand symposium was held in Dunedin Ōtepoti and it was based on the theme of “Fascination”. Dunedin has a proud history and heritage of settlement and the symposium was held in Toitū Otago Settlers Museum. The event was split into two streams of presentations, one in the auditorium…

  • 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…