Hong Kong_8th International Shibori Symposium

I am so lucky to be able to attend this event in Hong Kong. Some pre-conference talks and exhibitions have already started.

In the last couple of weeks, Edith Cheung from Cloth Haven gave a talk on the use of wool in Traditional clothing, and Yoshiko Wada gave one on 'Slow Fibres'.

Below are some of the images from the exhibition: 

Animal Fibres: Art Informs Shibori. 

All the images are taken by me and if you use any text or images, please link back to here. Thank you.

Amanda Ross: Rise Up (Handwoven, Hand-dyed, Felted Shibori)

Hiroshi Murase: The Large Surcle Shibori (Yataramiura Shibori, Somewake Boushi shibori, Fulling)

Charlotte Buch: Untitled 1 (Feltmaking)

Jeung-Hwa Park: Panel 2 (Machine Knit, Tie, Felt, dye)

Jeung-Hwa Park: Panel 1 (Machine Knit, Tie, Felt, Dye)

Mie Iwatsubo: the Wave (Knitting, Shibori Stitching, Felting)

As above

Tomoko Iwaizumi: Fire of Passion (Felting, Shibori)

Jorie Johnson: Zebra Crossings (Hand feltmaking, Itajime clamp resist acid-dyed, Japanese lacquer application)

Sarah Martin: Mound #1 (Felting, Tegumo Shibori, Dyeing, Discharge)

As above

Takumi Ushio: Shelter (Felt)

This is only a small selection of work on show and all of them are breath-takingly beautiful. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do!

A flying visit: Praha

The three days that I spent in Praha (Prague) was totally inspiring. I can not really describe the energy that I felt in that city. It was not only the activity with lots of people around you but the visual feast of textures, colours and creativity that was scattered around the city.

I apologise in advance if I missed out on credits to works of art and not being able to tell you more as I could not really read any of the signs - they were in Czech.....

Located in the foyer of the public library:

The column of books

The column of books

On the river bank, it was the Prague Contemporary Art Festival:

nuclear cocoon by Carol Hummel

nuclear cocoon by Carol Hummel

shendra stucki
(i don't know if this is the name of the artist or the artwork)

In front of the town hall:

Snowflakes by Cestmir Suska

Outside the Museum Kampa:

There was also an artist book and paper exhibition at the library, but they had run out of catalogues and no photographs were allowed. We were lucky to have caught it on the last day!
I hope that you have enjoyed a glimpse of this amazing city as much as I did.

A flying visit: Wien

Literally, to the other side of the world, 
24 hours away,
to visit my best friend,
for 7 days ( 3 in Wien and 3 in Praha with a train trip in between),
bone tired and did not do my share of reading up on the guide books..........
I think that in the end, all is forgiven as she actually likes being in charge of the map and had booked a hotel that is just round the corner from one of the top yarn shops in Vienna!
Zwei Glatt Zwei Verkhert (Knit 2 Purl 2), Josefstaedterstrasse 14, 8th district 

It had a wonderful display in the shop windows, and yes, I bought yarn. Some beautiful Danish linen/cotton and silk/cotton yarns by Karen Noe. 

We walked and walked. It turned out to be a bit of a tour of the work of Vienna Secession architects: Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos, Josef Hoffman, Josef Maria Olbrich.

I went to the 'Vienna: art and design' exhibition at the NGVI, in Melbourne. So to see all these buildings, decorative arts and fabrics in real life was amazing.

The post office by Hoffman is totally a double weave inspiration waiting to happen. I can visualise it in linen and even see the folds and block pattern emerging on my loom. Well, maybe next year the rate I seem to produce anything..... I think that my imagination runs far, far ahead of reality.
With our good fortune, we found a brochure in the hotel lobby of the 'Wiener Werkstätte' museum. It is in the basement of the Backhausen fabric company showroom.

There are displays of fabric samples, original design work, and in the showroom upstairs, you can buy fabric that are still in production. Of course, I bought fabric....... This, I think if you are interested in textile, is well worth a visit.