IC:Innovative Craft Blog

New threads appearing…

Posted Monday 3 August 2009, 07:04pm

On 24 July a small group of makers and curators gathered on the top floor of Edinburgh College of Art’s Evolution House (nothing to do with Darwin but lofty views of the Enlightenment city nonetheless) for a symposium on ‘Renewal’.

Organised by Dr Jessica Hemmings, Associate Director for Visual and Cultural Studies at Edinburgh and Linda Newington from University of Southampton, the symposium brought together an eclectic mix of speakers exploring textiles against a background of different, contemporary settings. We learnt about group therapy for Camper Shoe designers on a Majorcan finca; shop dreams in Western Australia; and a powerful artistic response to the New Orleans Hurricane tragedy.

The day was intriguing but the most intriguing of all was a web presentation from the American writer, Elizabeth Gilbert, about the nature of genius. The content of her talk was thought provoking but it was the nature of the transmission, through a website called TED: Ideas worth spreading that was fascinating. This website, developed in California, is the site of a wealth of filmed talks by leading figures from medicine to philosophy; the arts to social justice. Each of the films has been captured from an annual conference organised by TED with carefully invited speakers.

Back at Dovecot textiles and the USA also connected, as six of us assisted the weaver Ismini Samanidou install her Jerwood exhibit of 16m of cloth, woven on a computerised Jacquard loom in North Carolina. It has created a fascinating architectural island in the heart of the North Gallery. The rest of the show is also looking good and many thanks to Julia Ravenscroft, Jerwood curator and Joel Kaplan, technician for their many hours of patient installing.

The Reading Room is also now booked up, as it were, thanks to my colleague Elizabeth Goring and her son Adam.

Finally, a quick trip to WASPS studios this weekend to see the collection of tapestries from the STAR group (Scottish Tapestry Artists Regrouped). Some strong work - worth a visit.  A number of exhibitors are included in the IC show ‘Follow a Thread’ for Ruthin Craft Centre in September which will be brought back up to the Dovecot in November. New threads appearing…