Tag: textiles

  • Visitors to the studio

    As the season turns the flow of visitors to the studio seems to increase. Māwhera Greymouth is at the end of the rail trip from Christchurch Ōtautahi over Arthur’s Pass in the mountains to the West Coast. The train follows the same route as cars and trucks but, instead of going over the mountain it…

  • Open Studio weekend

    The first Open Studio event is happening at the end of this month in Grey District. Over the weekend of March 29th and 30th, studios across the area will be open from 10am until 4pm. Maps of the artist studio locations will be available from the Left Bank Art Gallery, Greymouth I-Sight, Nimmo Gallery and…

  • Democracy the Oromo way

    The Oromo people of Ethiopia and Northern Kenya have a unique democracy, Gadaa, that has existed for centuries. Every eight years new leaders are chosen by consensus from the men of the district who are all of a similar age. These men all belong to one of five parties, each party coming to power every…

  • Maoriland

    In the early years of the twentieth century New Zealand was marketed as a tourist destination as “Maoriland”. Maoriland… the term suggested travel and the romance of distance. It was used on postcards, and posters, and books. All proffered a view of the country as a place where the people and their traditions and culture…

  • 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 New Zealand Gown of the Year

    Between 1960 and 1964, in the Spring of the year, a trail of silver caravans travelled across New Zealand on behalf of “gaiety and glitter, chandeliers and champagne”. The New Zealand Gown of the Year Contest was truly “Fashion on Wheels”, the name splashed across the caravans. It took glamour across the country, although it…

  • 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…