Tag: art

  • Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee

    A recent addition to the textile collection shares a great link between textiles and music. Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee are two small characters from the “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” books by Lewis Carroll. The twins were made by artist Sharon Mitchell from Oamaru as part of an exhibition in her hometown of various characters…

  • TOTA – connecting cultures

    If you like reading about the many different ways in which people live around the world then TOTA might just be the ticket… From videos to stories and articles, from photographs to recipes, this website holds a wealth of information about culture. Although attitudes have changed since many of the articles were originally written, losing…

  • The unique look of Finland

    Finland has earned a name for its fashion. The country has had a long and colourful history but has maintained an independent, creative spirit despite war and invasion, and that creativity comes though in Finnish fashion, an industry that tells the world about how society works in the Nordic country. This article from business of…

  • Vodou flags

    Haitian Vodou is a religion that merged Catholicism and traditional African practices in the diaspora of the 18th and 19th Centuries, and its adherents traditionally made use of handmade flags called drapo. Drapo are decorated with embroidery and embellished with beads. Nowdays they are collector’s items and artists create drapo to sell to an international…

  • Linking the Coast and Shetland

    The textile studio in Māwhera Greymouth is gearing up for the arrival of the equipment from Shetland, and for the official opening which will be held in autumn. Summer has been busy, with tourists and locals alike coming in to see the studio and its progress. It is gratifying to have so many people saying…

  • The Dick Van Dyke show and a textile

    The small township of Ross is south of Hokitika on New Zealand’s West Coast and is an old gold-mining settlement. Ross is now a stop for tourists who come to look at the history of the area, walk the old gold-field paths, and experience gold-panning for themselves. It also has an op-shop, short for “opportunity…

  • Lighting the way

    Around the world lighthouses guide marine traffic safely in dangerous conditions. Lighthouses come in many forms but they all fulfil the same essential function: acting as beacons to warn of danger or act as signallers to safe havens. In Shetland some of the lighthouses that dot the coast were designed and built by the Stevenson…

  • Textile song, work and memory

    Weaving has been associated with music and rhythm for centuries, a strong connection that helps guide the weaving itself and also makes evident the links between personal practice and growth in the Indian Subcontinent. From mystics, who use weaving as metaphors in verse for Buddhist philosophy, to women who gather together to spin cotton while…

  • Irene Sharraff

    Costumes are always an important ingredient in making a successful play or musical. Meet Irene Sharraff. Irene trained in fashion illustration and excelled in colour and historical details, employing these to brilliant effect in musicals such as West Side Story and Call Me Madam. Her work was recognised in 1993 when she was awarded the…

  • The Spotify playlist

    In this, the first of the playlists for 2025, a selection of audio pieces has been collected to go along with the blog. To listen, click on the player above or head over to Spotify and search for “Music to read a blog by”. Paying subscribers to the platform will hear all the audio without…