Tag: travel
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Zambezi (Sweet African)
The Zambezi River, the fourth largest river system in Africa, drains seven countries and provides a livelihood for millions of people who live along its banks, catchment and flow. The lower Zambezi is the most productive and biologically diverse of Africa’s tropical floodplains. The river has given its name to history in many ways: through…
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Pelicans on the wall
A new piece has just been added to the textile collection: a trio of pelicans. The wall hanging has been made from burlap backing with the pelicans, hand-stitched with twines of various hues and padded, fastened to the burlap. The photographs below show the detail of the padded figures, close-up of the feathers and the…
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A little about American Indian beadwork
Before the arrival of European settlers, the people of what is now the Americas used different materials – shells, bone and porcupine quills, amongst others – to make decorative (and portable) items. The coming of the Europeans brought glass beads to trade for furs, hides and food, and these quickly became a desirable item to…
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This week’s Spotify playlist
In this week’s list of music and sound that accompanies the blog there are references to International Women’s Day, wedding dresses, nursing, weaving and more. The playlist is on Spotify and paid subscribers can listen to all the tracks without interruption while free subscriptions will have advertising breaks. Anyone without a subscription will hear extracts…
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Chita!
Brazil boats its own unique textile that symbolises the country’s exuberant personality in print. Cotton has been important in Brazil for centuries but during the period that the country was colonised and governed from Portugal, most cloth was imported. This was expensive and so, threatened by rising cotton agriculture, the government banned its production in…
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This week’s Spotify playlist
Each week the blog has an accompanying playlist on Spotify. The list includes music and sound that references the articles on the blog and you can listen on the link above. If you have a paid subscription you will hear all the music, if you have a free subscription the list will be interspersed with…
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Beadwork from South Africa
The beadwork from Africa is probably best-known from South Africa where geometric patterns and bright colours have come to symbolise the country. In this article, from Google Arts and Culture, pieces from Iziko Museums of South Africa are shown along with texts about the various people who make and wear the beadwork. Another article from…
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Wool in Aotearoa New Zealand
Wool is making a comeback in Aotearoa New Zealand but there are still hurdles to overcome. This article from New Zealand Geographic, along with a companion piece in the same magazine, explains more of the history of wool in the country and explores the difficulties, and solutions, for the industry. While wool is an introduction…
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Samoa meets Scotland in Los Angeles
Last year the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) acquired five pieces of historic importance from the Pacific. One of those brings together two nations: Samoa and Scotland. The Scottish author, Robert Louis Stevenson, lived, worked and died in Samoa as he attempted to recover from ill health. (You can read about his journey…
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The world of beads
More than few years ago I was lucky enough to be invited to go on a trip to Tasiilaq, Greenland by an artist friend and colleagues from Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, Denmark and Greenland itself. The week-long trip was in the Spring of the year and we were gathered together to explore how we…