Like all great arts, textiles recreate our visiton of the world. We hold them up as exemplars of skill, ingenuity, creativity, and ambition. Textiles are poetic metaphors woven from ideas just as much as they are physical items woven from fibres.
Between Science and Art: Collaboration in Textiles. Catharine Ellis & Joy Boutrup Joy Boutrup is a textile engineer, chemist, and historian from Denmark. Catharine Ellis is a textile artist from North Carolina who specializes in combining weaving and dyeing. They first met at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and, despite living on different continents, they have worked and taught collaboratively for many years. Joy’s science-based knowledge of textile dyeing and finishing has infor...
Throughout history and across cultures, textiles have served important spiritual roles. Belief in the protective or auspicious nature of cloth can be found in societies on all continents. The idea that embellishment and pattern may add not only beauty but also a link to the spiritual realm and protection from evil is indeed a potent one. In this lecture Amy Putansu will discuss how notions of spirituality have influenced her own hand-woven artwork. Inspired by Buddhism, Zen design precepts, and t...
Recorded at the Maiwa School of Textiles September 14th 2017.
Aya Matsunaga is a Japanese textile artist who tempered her formal studies by moving to Nottingham, England, and embracing the UK fibre art scene of the 1990s. In this lecture Aya will share her artistic journey—how, like white yarn in a dyebath, she absorbed influences and inspiration from her time in Japan, England, and Italy. Her work is a synergy of knit and felted techniques. Aya Matsunaga knits with multiple dyed fine wool yarns—both by hand and also using a hand-cranked knitting machine. ...
When leading natural dye expert Michel Garcia goes into a garden, what does he see? He sees botanical strategies for survival that often give new insights into dye procedures and methods.
When leading natural dye expert Michel Garcia goes into a garden, what does he see? He sees botanical strategies for survival that often give new insights into dye procedures and methods.
For over thirty years Susan Shie has been producing art on cloth that mixes the personal and the political. Her distinct method of working combines narrative, drawing, and writing into large-format, highly graphic art quilts.
On October 5, 2015, Barbara Todd delivered her lecture, "Stone Drawings and Quilted Lines" or "One Day Tells Its Tale To Another." to a full house at the Maiwa School of Textiles.
Recorded at the Maiwa School of Textiles Lecture series on September 19, 2016.
Each member of our panel has carved a road in the wilderness. It is not easy to walk off the map, but they have all done it, struck out alone to follow a path as unknown to themselves as it was to others. And then something happens ...
Each member of our panel has carved a road in the wilderness. It is not easy to walk off the map, but they have all done it, struck out alone to follow a path as unknown to themselves as it was to others. And then something happens ...
Each member of our panel has carved a road in the wilderness. It is not easy to walk off the map, but they have all done it, struck out alone to follow a path as unknown to themselves as it was to others. And then something happens ...
The Artisan's Alliance of Jawaja make their presentation to a Vancouver audience at the Maiwa Textile Symposium via Skype.
Inspired by both the colour and the plant, the Lamberts created Bleu de Lectoure in 1994. Soon their lives were given up to woad. It took more than two years working with chemists from the University of Toulouse to uncover the original fermentation, extraction, and dyeing processes. In an antiques store one day, fate helped them out. They stumbled upon a notebook that belonged to Napoleon’s chemist.
Join Michel Garcia as he leads us on a walk through the garden of natural dye plants, explaining the motivation and origins of this project, how it has evolved, new challenges faced, and what the future holds.
Join Michel Garcia as he leads us on a walk through the garden of natural dye plants, explaining the motivation and origins of this project, how it has evolved, new challenges faced, and what the future holds.
In part two, Ashoke Chatterjee presents the remainder of his lecture and answers questions from the audience. Part one contained the visiual and the first part of Mr. Chatterjee's presentation. Part two is audio only. Mr. Chatterjee presented his lecture via satallite from Ahmedabad, India
In part one Charllotte Kwon introduces Ashoke Chatterjee and explains the application process for a Canadian visa (Mr. Chatterjee, an Indian dignitary with flawless credentials was denied a visa to visit Canada). Ashoke presents the first part of his lecture with visuals via an internet connection to our Vancouver audience.
In part three Rosemary Crill explores India's trade with the west as the focus shifted from printed cottons to muslins and Kashmir shawls. She concludes her lecture by answering some questions from the audience.
In part two Rosemary Crill explores India's cotton trade with the west. Printed cotton known as "chintz" changed the very fabric of life itself - especially in the British Commonwealth.
In part one Rosemary Crill describes the scope and range of India's trade, its historic beginnings and describes in detail the commerce with the countries in the east.
In this lecture master craftsman Gasali Adeyemo fields questions from the audience about traditional techniques and about working in Africa and Santa Fe. Gasali concludes with a story about the role of clothing and cloth in life.
In this lecture master craftsman Gasali Adeyemo will open the evening with a description of his early life in Nigeria and tell how fibre art came into his life. As a participant of the Nike Centre for Arts and Culture, both as a student and later as a teacher, Gasali has a range of experience with traditional crafts. He will give a history of the famous adire techniques and illustrate how they relate to Yoruba culture with a compelling collection of slides.
Razzaque and Ismail are Khatris – a hereditary community of dyers and printers who live and work in the desert district of Kutch in Gujarat, India. They are joined by researcher Eiluned Edwards, who has lived, worked, and collaborated with them for many years.
Razzaque and Ismail are Khatris – a hereditary community of dyers and printers who live and work in the desert district of Kutch in Gujarat, India. They are joined by researcher Eiluned Edwards, who has lived, worked, and collaborated with them for many years.
In March of 2008 CBC radio's Sheryl MacKay came to the Maiwa Loft and interviewed Charllotte Kwon, Owner of Maiwa Handprints and director of the Maiwa Foundation. The interview aired on March 22 on Sheryl's program North by Northwest. We asked Sheryl if we could post the interview on our website and she agreed. So in this episode we present the original interview as it aired in March of 2008.
Working to commission involves forming a special working relationship with a client. Large works for public spaces require working with architects, planners, and engineers. It involves navigating through time frames, budgets, and fire regulations. The challenge is not to compromise the creative process due to the added constraints. In fact the reverse can often be true: exciting creative ideas come out of problem solving within a working brief.
In part three Karen explores India and visits both the giant tusser moth and the Salvi community, makers of a famous double silk ikat known as Patan Patola.
In part two Karen describes her experience in Laos and explains how weaving traditions are an essential part of Laotian culture.
