Exhibitions

ALL ITEMS ARE LISTED IN GOOD FAITH BUT PLEASE MAKE YOUR OWN CHECKS BEFORING TRAVELLING ANY DISTANCE. Until the website is rewritten, we will simply be putting the latest news at the top.

Germany

Time to Go

An exhibition about dyeing in the monastery/museum at Engen, Germany. More details from Inge Evers (www.wvevers.dds.nl)

UK

FLIGHT

29 July - 4 September 2007

South West Textile Group at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre, Gloucestershire GL2 7BT T: 01453 891900  www.wwt.org.co.uk

Although being held at a premier bird watching facility, the exhibition contains work not only on aspects of bird flight and feathers, but also on insects, flying machines and flights of fantasy along with historical, mechanical and technical references.

Diverse, playful, thought provoking.

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ON THE SURFACE

Ama Bolton, Clare Diprose, Kate Hickmott, Jane Paterson, Maggie Stewart.

Glastonbury Rural Life Museum,
28th July - 8th Sept 2007
Tuesdays to Friday and Bank Holiday Mondays 10.00am to 5.00pm;
Saturday and Sunday 2.00pm to 6.00pm

Five textile artists have put together an exhibition concerned with textures, surfaces, skins; on the surface, but looking deeper.  New artwork has a particular focus on the museum collection and the Somerset landscape.

The sea beneath her feet flows though Jane's indigo blues. Blue lias runs beneath her Butleigh garden, and she turns up ammonites and crinoids with her spade.  Graters in the museum and from her own eclectic collection have undergone a sea change to felt.   A moonlit journey through flooded fields and willows continues the watery theme through Ama's work, while her felt foraging baskets are decorated with designs taken from pottery found on the site of the Glastonbury Lake Village.

Maggie's father cut peat in Donegal. Here, she is surrounded by echoes of that past.  The tools, layers, stacks and marks of the peat industry transform into felt and paper.  An old family letter, apple trees and the field names around Clare's home in NE Somerset have grown into text and
images in felt and watercolour.

Kate's work vibrates with colour. Reverse resist dyeing on felt holds the essence of rock carvings.  She perhaps speaks for the whole group when she says,  "I love to leave marks: by arranging some pebbles on the beach, or some twigs in a pile on a walk in the woods - an offering, but also perhaps my way of leaving evidence that I have been there - that I am here - that I have a relationship with the earth around me."

The artists will be running workshops and demonstrations during the exhibition.  Contact Glastonbury Rural Life Museum, tel: 01458 831197 for details.

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ON THE SURFACE

Bath Textile Artists at Wells Museum
19 May to 2 June 2007.
Where do artists find their ideas? For Bath Textile Artists this year, the answer is Wells Museum. Iron Age pottery, the Periodic Table, stuffed birds and some very old beans have all provided kicking off points for an affectionate sideways look at the Museum's collection - and the way it is displayed.

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FLEECE PROJECT

Penrith Museum, Penrith, Cumbria - 17th April to 30th May
Farfield Mill, Sedbergh, Cumbria - 7th July to 22nd July
Keswick Museum, Keswick Cumbria - 2nd October to 31st Oct

Contact project coordinator Debbie Lucas (debbie@debbielucas.co.uk)

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FELT LANDSCAPES
by Debbie Lucas
The Village Bakery, Melmerby, Cumbria -1st May to 30th June.

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Bath Textile Artists “On the Green”

... at Wells Museum, Cathedral Green, Somerset 19 May – 2 June. 10-5.30 Mon-Sat, 11-4 Sunday. Includes felts by Clare Diprose, Paula Widdicombe and Ama Bolton.

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ITALY

(e) - a texture with words and human relations

(e) is/and. Iron, wool filaments, carded wool, wound dressing, words. These are the materials for a site-specific installation measuring 18 by 6 metres in the main room of Palazzo Gran Guardia on Verona's famous Br square. It links up with Il mio (e) il tuo sangue my blood is (and) your blood a previous smaller but significant work pictured on Zwilling's home page at www.agostinazwilling.it. Visitors are invited to interact with the artist's work.

Palazzo Gran Guardia, piazza Br, Verona, Italy. 5th - 11th March 2007.

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Jenny Cowern - A Retrospective

Jenny Cowern, who died in 2005 was one of Cumbria's most distinguished visual artists. This exhibition commemorates her life and work and includes work lent from around twenty private and public collections. This exhibition coincides with the publication of a book about Jenny co-writtten by Miss Mary Burkett OBE and Mrs Valery Rickerby OBE.

Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Castle Street, Carlisle, CA3 8TP. (www.tulliehouse.co.uk). Mon-Sat 10-4, Sun 12-4 (from 1st April gallery closes at 5).

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** IFA Exhibition **

"Crowning Glory - architecture for the head"

A key activity for the IFA is its touring exhibition programme and we are delighted to announce our next exhibition

As the title suggests, the exhibition will showcase hand felted hats and headwear, made by felters across the world. Submissions are expected to range from the elegantly practical to the wildly fanciful; as long as they are capable of being worn. It will be a juried exhibition with an independent panel of judges including Laura Hamilton of The Collins Gallery, mixed media artist Edwina Bridgeman, Janet Taylor of James Locke, Milliners and IFA International Officer, Liz Clay.

The exhibition will open at Hat Works, Stockport, in November 2007 and tour throughout Europe closing at The Collins Gallery, Glasgow in March 2009. Watch this space for announcements of further venues.

Application forms will be available in March.

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Australia

FeltWest Australia 2 March - 1 April 2007 Selected quality feltworks Mundaring Arts Centre jenb@westnet.com.au

Germany

Young Fashion Design Germany Until 1 April 2007 By Students & Guests Museum f. Kunst & Gewerbe, Steintorplatz 1, D-20099 Hamburg

Talente 2007 Germany 1 July - 24 September International competition for crafts, design & technology Munich www.hwk-muenchen.de

Netherlands

Vilten Buidels Netherlands 17 September - January 2007 Mariyke Eken Fates, Langebrugg 89a, Leiden www.mekenart.com

New Zealand

Fibre Festival - New Zealand April 2007 - New Plymouth Advance notice www.creativefibre.org.nz

Switzerland

4th Fibre Art Biennal from Italy

USA

Timeless Vessels USA February to March, 2007 selected group show Including Jorie Johnson’s lacquered felted vessels The Society of Arts and Crafts, Newbury St., Boston, MA www.JoiRae.com