The recent exhibition at the Tate Modern was a huge and comprehensive retrospective of Sonia Delaunay’s vast and successful career as an artist, textile designer, costume designer, interior designer and painter. She is known for her vibrant, rhythmic and colour-filled paintings that captured and celebrated urban life, travel and the culture that inspired her. Sonia Delaunay was born in 1885 in Odessa. She attended the Art Academy in Karlsruhe in 1904, and two years later moved to Paris to study at the Academie de la Palette. The exhibition starts with Sonia’s early paintings – mainly portraits, which show a strong Paul Gauguin influence. The bold lines and vibrant colours defied the…
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The story of Spitalfields’ Silk
This summer has seen a celebration of the history and heritage of Spitalfields in East London in the form of two festivals: Spitalfields Music Festival and the Hunguenot Summer 2015 organised by The Huguenot Society. I joined a tour run by the Huguenot Society around the streets where the weavers and cloth merchants lived. I was amazed at the many layers of history in one small area – we must have only covered a square half-mile! The Huguenots were French Prostestant refugees who fled to London and other parts of Britain to escape persecution in France in the 16th century. The first Huguenots arrived in London in 1548. The majority were…
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Travels in Textiles’ highlights of 2014
Wow, another year almost finished already. Doesn’t seem long ago that I was reviewing 2013. Here is an overview of the textiles I’ve experienced in exhibitions, museums and galleries, at talks and visiting textile craftspeople at work. I’ll also have a look at whats to come in 2015. In January on my way back from the Cairngorm mountains in Scotland I stopped off at the Paisley museum, which gave an insight into the Scottish weavers of the highly prized global commodity, at a time when geographical indication of a particular craft definitely didn’t exist. A visit to Manchester Platt Hall gallery also in January showed us another highly skilled, but much less known about craft.…
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Textiles in Depth: Handloom Weaving in India, part four. End of the journey
The journey to Maheshwar was long and exhausting. A long bumpy bus journey to Indore, a three hour wait for a bus then a three hour bus journey to Maheshwar. But it didn’t take long to realise whey I’d made all that effort as I walked up the streets and heard an orchestra of weaving looms! My guesthouse was the cheap and comfortable Hansa Heritage Hotel, situated at the bottom of the Ahilya fort which dominates the town. The room was surprisingly large with a traditional warm and earthy decor including Bagh block-printed bed covers (Bagh is a town not far away from Maheshwar which is renowned for its natural-dye and…
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A look back at 2013
As we enter a new year, I thought I’d highlight some of Travels in Textiles’ activity from last year, and have a look at what’s to come in the year ahead. This year saw a first-time trip to the fascinating historically and culturally rich Bulgaria It was also a great year for textiles exhibitions. I travelled to Nottingham to see Light and Line at Nottingham Castle, an exhibition of textile art by Polly Binns and Anne Morrell. There was the excellent exhibition WEFT at the Brunei gallery which displayed a comprehensive collection of world textiles and a wide range of traditions and techniques. Wool House at Somerset House Oxford for…
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Celebrating 2012!
On the first day of 2013, I thought I’d take a step back and review all that has happened in 2012. I’d also like to thank all my readers and hope you’ll continue to follow my experiences, ramblings and travels in the year to come. I haven’t quite lived up to the name ‘Travels in Textiles’ this year unfortunately, having done no travelling abroad. However, lots of other big things have happened, the main ones being completing my MA and moving to London. Early this year, I was awarded the Textiles Society Award for Critical Writing, which I was presented at the prestigious annual Antique Textile Fair in Manchester. It…
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Fascinating talks, tantalising textiles and a ‘buzzing’ showcase
The Antique Textiles Fair was a great success last Sunday the 4th March, both for me, the other award winners and more importantly the society. I’m sure it was successful for all the stall traders too. As usual there was a great array of textiles for sale: vintage costumes, accessories and trimmings, ethnic textiles from around the world shoes, luggage and jewellery. There was hordes of visitors all day, which is a good sign for the future award winners, as the fair funds the bursaries. I took part in ‘Question Time’ hosted by Lynn Broster, the Bursaries Secretary during which I was presented with my award. It was an…
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Asia Triennial and Rogue Artist Studios
This blog post is written with a sigh of relief yet with a strange sense of loss and disorientation after having just handed in my MA thesis. I am awaiting a viva for which I’m partly apprehensive about and partly looking forward to, being that I have admiration for both my examiners, one as a textile historian and the other as a textile practitioner. I hope to post the thesis soon on this blog. Meanwhile, I will be presenting aspects of the research at the TRIP (Textiles Research in Practice) symposium at Loughborough University in November. My paper will focus on how the ancient craft of block printing using hand…
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Arts festivals and open studios
This blog post is written with a sigh of relief yet with a strange sense of loss and disorientation after having just handed in my MA thesis. I am awaiting a viva for which I’m partly apprehensive about and partly looking forward to, being that I have admiration for both my examiners, one as a textile historian and the other as a textile practitioner. I hope to post the thesis soon on this blog. Meanwhile, I will be presenting aspects of the research at the TRIP (Textiles Research in Practice) symposium at Loughborough University in November. My paper will focus on how the ancient craft of block printing using hand…
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Fields, flowers and Easter feasts
I have left it far too long to write another blog post.Stuck at home while everyone else is enjoying a sunny bank holiday, I have decided to force myself out of underneath the weight of my books and my never ending thesis and do some easier writing. I can’t really complain about missing out on the lovely weather. I was lucky to spend a whole Easter in the Yorkshire Dales basking in the warm hospitality of my aunt and uncle in their lovely country house. This involved strolling through the quiet picturesque countryside, indulging in my auntie’s delicious home-cooked feasts of ham from their home-reared pigs, huge fruit filled pavlovas, fresh tasty salads and a…
