HANDWOVEN SELVEDGE

 

WITH CAROL SODERLUND

Sophena Kwon demonstrates shibori techniques with master ajrakh block printers Jabbar and Adam Khatri.

On Saturday September 23rd Sophena Kwon presented a very special version of her enormously successful Indigo Social. In addition to the shaped resist techniques taught by Sophena, each participant received a square of cloth prepared with the preliminary printing of an ajrakh cloth. Jabbar Khatri and his son Adam personally manned their natural fermentation indigo vats and hand dipped the squares of cloth.

It was a memorable evening filled with the magic of indigo and the excitement of the reveal - as people untied and opened their finished pieces after dyeing.

Adam (left) and Jabbar (right) dipping student's cloth in the natural date vat.

Participants outside Maiwa East where they rinsed and opened their finished pieces.

Master craftsmen Jabbar and Adam Khatri demonstrated the art of ajrakh in front of a full house at the Maiwa East exhibition space on September 16, 2017. The evening was introduced by Charllotte Kwon.

Jabbar Khatri plotting the lines of a new piece.

Adam Khatri takes over from his father and plots the outline with pencil.

Double sided ajrakh print inspired by islamic tilework.

These masterworks show innovation both in design and in the shades of natural dyes.

Masterworks inspired by the natural world.

Imagery included images from over twenty years of Maiwa's relationship with the Khatris.

Detail of a masterwork showing Jabbar and Adam's flawless printing technique.

At the end of the evening Jabbar reviews the progress of the piece ...

---

---

Inspired by our Strange Society was the apt title of the lecture given by Dutch embroidery artist Tilleke Schwarz on September 12th. Tilleke's return to Vancouver was welcomed by a full house. THe audience were not disappointed as Tilleke presented a wide-ranging survey of her work and inspiration delivered with her characteristic dry wit. For reader's who might be new to Tilleke's work we are pleased to reprint Bonnie Adie's excellent introduction to the evening.



Good evening. All of us here tonight are so grateful we have Maiwa in our City providing us with the opportunity to enjoy so many wonderful lectures. Tonight is the third in this year’s series and I know you will be fascinated by what Tilleke Schwarz has to tell us – albeit without oil lamps and candles.

The title of this lecture is ‘Inspired by Our Strange Society’. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, Society is a large group of people who live together in an organized way, making decisions about how to do things and sharing work that needs to be done.

Over the centuries, societies have been depicted by writers and visual artists so that we today can learn about what societies from the past were like. We have all read or been read to fairy tales which originally began as simple stories orally passed through generations followed by the written word and illustrations. The significance of these is that the evolution of the fairy tale tells us about ourselves and our changing society.

Our very own First Nations and aboriginals throughout the world illustrate to us traditional meanings and personal stories through carved totem poles, drawings and dress.

But what about those who have commented on society through stitch? The Bayeaux Tapestry, a 70 metre long embroidery depicts the Battle of Hastings in 1066, but within that work, we see their ships, their animals and the way of life in those times.

The women in many countries of the world historically told stories of their lives through a language of stitches, colour, and motifs stitched on their garments and from those one could garner their observations, experiences, trials and tribulations.

Opus Anglicanum in 13th Century Britain was a most opulent time in embroidery, depicting society in both the religious and secular senses.

In Medieval times in England, highly prized personal documents were created in needlework, including heraldic imagery declaring pedigree through ancestry and marriage. Wealth and taste were expressed with exquisite craftsmanship.

More recent depictions of society in stitch is The Quaker Tapestry – a series of 75 separate crewel embroidered panels and is a ‘celebration of insights that have motivated the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) since their founding in 1652 and the Great Tapestry of Scotland which is comprised of 160 panels, a story of the Scots and stitched by over 1,000 of their people.

Throughout the world you will find stitched tapestries from which we glean so much history of societies, past and present.

This evening will allow us to follow the personal embroidery adventures of Tilleke Schwarz and take the opportunity to be inspired by a great artist who uses a needle and thread on cloth and gives us her interpretation of our society today. 

She uses ancient and traditional techniques with a contemporary eye. Her ‘stories’ are graffiti like, inspired by traditional samplers, the mass media, daily life and cats and full of graphic humour and text. They are ‘maps of modern life’. I wonder what those who follow us will think of our current society as they view her work in the future.

Tilleke’s work is extensively exhibited, and she lectures and teaches in her home country and abroad.

And here is a little known fact about Tilleke. Although she is from the Netherlands, she hates cheese. Now isn’t that interesting?

Bonnie Adie

---

---

Mo Kelman brought the audience along on a journey of artistic discovery on September 7th. It was, to quote a surrealist inspiration, as beautiful as the chance juxtaposition of a sewing machine and an umbrella on a dissecting table. Mo is known for her skeletal frameworks which are suspended tethered to the wall and covered with a skin of textile. Sometimes the skin is shibori but sometimes it is a more literal skin. 

The lecture went on under adverse circumstances as Granville Island was without power that night. About two hours before Mo was due to take the stage a transformer blew and completely eliminated power on the island. Maiwa rigged up a generator, added some candles and lanterns and the lecture wend on. It was, in fact, a most beautiful and magical evening.

For those of you who could not attend the lecture, there is an exhibition of Mo's sculptural textiles at the Silk Weaving Studio. It will remain up until September 22nd. We strongly encourage you to see it to fully appreciate her stunning work.

Sara Goodman (left) and Mary Zicafoose (right) with the Goodweave Project.

On Wednesday September 6th Sara Goodman and Mary Zicafoose presented a joint lecture titled Woven symbols Global Patterns. It was a brilliant opening to the 2017 lecture series. Sara spoke about the GoodWeave Foundation and the remarkable work being done with symplocos - a plant based mordant (also known as a bioaccumulator of alum).

Sara was well matched by Mary who had the audience enthralled from the moment of her opening comments. Few lectures have carried the inspirational punch that Mary delivered on opening night. Mary has generously permitted us to quote from her talk and we selected her concluding remarks. Here they are:

NEW SILK AJRAKH SHAWLS IN STORE AND ONLINE

Don't miss your chance to meet the artisans.

THE ART OF AJRAKH

STILL IN PRINT: AJRAKH TEXTILES

 Natural. Honest. Colour.

It's time to stock up for the artisan and craft fair season!

Maiwa's Natural Dyes