Maiwa East is open a few extra days before Christmas. Monday December 23, 10 - 5 Tuesday December 24, 10 - 4 Friday December 27: Open 10 - 5 Saturday December 28: Open 10 - 5 Sunday December 29: Open 11 - 5 Maiwa East will reopen January...
A weaver in Odisha winds tussar silk off the bobbins to prepare a warp for the loom. Many areas in Odisha (formerly Orissa) are suitable for the cultivation of tussar silk. Tussar, Antheraea mylitta is a very large moth. In contrast to bombyx mori (the Chinese silkworm most of us...
Banjara women among the sunflowers. Team Maiwa is in Southern India at the moment doing some research on the Banjara. It has been a week now, going from thanda to thanda. A thanda is a Banjara settlement. Historically these were temporary as the Banjara were nomadic, but increasingly...
Last night (October 24) was the concluding event of the Maiwa Textile Symposium. New this year is a lecture/event that focuses on the work of the Maiwa Foundation. Maiwa's founder, and director of the foundation Charllotte Kwon, gave a talk that focused on a visit to the Living...
On Tuesday October 22nd Lorraine Roy delivered her lecture, The Sylvan Spirit. It was a walk in the woods with a person who has spent a lifetime among the science and art of trees. Lorraine has tasted the twigs of the cherry birch and found them reminiscent of...
On Wednesday October 16th, Rachel Meginnes delivered her lecture - "The Plainweave Thread." The audience was mesmerized by the progression of Rachel's work and the fastidious attention to detail that was payed to the fabric itself. Rachel works to remove threads, distress the cloth and then build it...
On Tuesday October 15, Akemi Nakano Cohn delivered her lecture - Journeys and Traces: Art and Life through Katagami. In the talk Akemi presented an evocative journey that began with her family's traditional japanese costumes. Akemi discussed her art and how certain commissions were the result of attempting...
Our furniture - where it comes from - how it's made. Presenting a short video showing the origins of some of the Maiwa Furniture. In 2004 we bought all the floorboards from a factory that was being demolished in Ahmedebad. The wood is Burmese Teak - a beautiful...
On Wednesday night a full house listened to stories of life and art as Bryan Whitehead presented Down the Mountain - Indigo and Silk Farming in a Japanese Village. Bryan explained how his wanderings as a young man eventually landed him in Japan and how pivotal, deeply felt...
Brian Whitehead's exhibition opened on Friday night at the Silk Weaving Studio. The show featured works dyed with natural indigo and persimmon tannin. They were beautifully packaged in handmade wooden boxes. The exhibit showed a great sensitivity to natural materials. Bryan brought many items from his silk farm...
Saturday night John Gillow presented a detailed and story-filled account of his travels in the Islamic world. It was a visual journey and the audience were fortunate to be able to see and handle the textiles first-hand. 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false...
Thursday night the Maiwa Symposium was proud to welcome back international traveller, textile dealer, explorer and author John Gillow. John has published eleven books of textiles documenting diverse techniques, cultures, and fibres. Examples were in the Maiwa store and hung in the Net Loft building. All the textiles...
The first event of the Maiwa Textile Symposium - Bryan Whitehead's exhibition opening. Join us this Friday September 27 for Quirky Japanese Makimono an exhibition by Bryan Whitehead. The exhibition reception starts at 6pm at the Silk Weaving Studio: 1531 Johnston St. Granville Island, Vancouver, Canada. See the...
India Flint spoke to a capacity crowd on Thursday night as she took the audience through some impressive ways to get colour on cloth. Starting in her native Australia, India showed slides of the many beautiful shades and patterns to be had from eucalyptus leaves. She also explored...
Last night Adrienne Sloane took the symposium through a history of knitting with intent. From helping the war effort it the two world wars - "Knit your Bit," to the original yarn bombs - knitted covers to incendiary explosives made in the second world war: Adrienne offered a...
Thursday night Michel Garcia opened the 2013 Maiwa Textile Symposium lecture series with a talk about the remarkable world of plant-based mordants. Michel Garcia teaching at the Secrets of the Dye Garden The talk was far-reaching; touching on bio-accumulators of alum, historical dye-use, and the motivations behind such...
The Maiwa Guide to Natural Dyes What they are and how to use them This This is the last vat recipe in our series "The Organic Vat." It follows our introduction, About the Organic Vat, our general procedure post, Indigo: The Fruit Vat, and our last post 3...
This is our last day of our natural dye workshop at Jane Stafford Textiles. It is the day when we teach indigo. Indigo sits alone in the line-up of natural dyes. It has its own unique chemistry and behaviour. When items emerge from the dye pot it is...
