Tag: art

  • Āhuataka

    An intriguing exhibition at the Centre of Contemporary Art in Christchurch Ōtautahi is just about to end its run. Āhuataka is an exploration of Māori woven adornment. The small exhibition space in CoCA has on display artefacts from the Canterbury Museum; taonga tupuna (ancestral treasures). These are grouped together with contemporary art from practitioners who…

  • A reader contributes

    This week a reader from South Africa has sent in a Facebook link to “Architecture of Return“, an artwork of the floor plan of the British Museum on a blue deer hide, along with symbols for the artefacts that are held in the Museum’s collections. This piece references the hide paintings that convey histories across…

  • New items for the library

    The studio library continues to grow. Keiskamma Art Project is based in the village of Hamburg in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Established by the Keisakamma Trust, an organisation with the aim to “build healthy communities in all respects”, there are four strands to the work of the Trust: Art, Music, Health and Education.…

  • Shae Bishop – ceramic cowboy

    Shae Bishop is a ceramic artist who uses his discipline to create distinctive costumes. Based in Virginia in the USA, the artist works with clay to make portraits through clothing. His pieces cross-over between tiles and textile, making the wearer both invincible and vulnerable. Check out more of the artist’s work here and read an…

  • A working loom

    This week the loom in the studio is finally weaving! Over the past few months we (a friend who is an expert in all things to do with looms and me) have been working to get this loom running. It was used by a designer from Gisborne who kindly donated it to the studio and,…

  • Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa

    Zeitz MoCAA is carved out of old grain silos on the quayside of Cape Town’s docks and features the contemporary art of Africa. One Must Be Seated is a multi-disciplinary show by Ghanaian-American artist Rita Mawuena Benissan of her Ghanaian culture. Reimagining the royal umbrella and stool that represent Akan chieftaincy through tapestry, video, photography…

  • Bulawayo

    A trip to Bulawayo in September 2025

  • Sónia Aniceto

    The work of Sónia Aniceto, a Portuguese artist who trained in painting and tapestry, took a turn when she worked in an opera house on sets. The experience of working on a large scale with textiles at La Monnaie in Belgium encouraged the artist to explore mixing thread and paint. The result… delicate, beautiful, unsettling…

  • Textile Talk

    Every Wednesday a presentation or panel discussion is held by SAQA, Studio Art Quilt Associates in the USA. If you have an hour to spare and want to get a fix, head on over to the website and browse more than 250 Textile Talks using the online index. Fascinating and intriguing, not to mention lots…

  • Glass… as a textile?

    Glass, that most contradictory of materials, has been used as a textile. Mid-century design in Europe and America took advantage of glass fibre and its unique qualities. The fabrics made from glass fibres are shiny and slippery, echoing the trend then for clean lines and crisp looks in fashion and interiors. A pair of fibreglass…