Adventures in Vintage Needlecraft at Objectspace, Auckland

Adventures in Vintage Needlecraft is presented in Objectspace’s Window Gallery and Vault to coincide with Rosemary McLeod’s appearance at the 2013 Auckland Writers and Readers Festival and the launch of With Bold Needle and Thread: Adventures in Vintage Needlecraft.

To mark the publication of With Bold Needle and Thread Rosemary McLeod will give a talk The Secret Life of Aprons on Sunday May 19 10.15-11.15am at Auckland Art Gallery Auditorium as part of the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival.

 

Appreciation for items handmade is growing and embroidery and sewing are enjoying a renaissance of sorts with a revival of interest in vintage fabrics and techniques. Rosemary McLeod and Marilyn Daly, set out to recreate items for the book that had originally been created in the thirty years spanning 1920 – 1950. These delightful objects: bags, tea-cosies, aprons, cushions, and adornments are made from a range of materials such as felt, hessian, cotton and brightly coloured threads, wool, and buttons. Made with techniques such as quilting, patchwork, and embroidery the objects display an extraordinary freshness and vibrancy that has immediate appeal to both young and old.

My mission here is to reclaim the home-made… I also wanted to find out what it would be like, as a maker, to re-enter a time when the average woman, with average sewing skills, was expected to be able to make most of the craft projects in magazines.  Rosemary McLeod
What:    Adventures in Vintage Needlecraft
Where:   Objectspace, 8 Ponsonby Rd, Auckland
When:   The Window Gallery, 3 May – 8 June
The Vault, 11 May – 8 June
Gallery hours:  Mon – Sat, 10am – 5pm. Free admission.

Fortuny film…

Either on now or coming soon to Wellington, Auckland and Dunedin, the Resene Architecture and Design  Architecture film festival includes one textile highlight in the form of the NZ premiere of Fortuny and the Magic Lantern (2010, Director Claudio Zulian, 58 minutes, Spanish with English subtitles).

The creations of Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo (1871–1947) are rooted in the rich Orientalist tradition of the nineteenth century. Born in Granada, but a citizen of Venice, he created fashions and textiles, as wellas photographs, prints, lamps and sculptures. Fluidity, the art of pleating, the refinement of chromaticism, luxury silks and metallic velvets characterize his creations—beautiful scarves in silk and velvet, timelessly elegant pleated dresses —inspired by the Orient and the Renaissance. He also  developed processes for dyeing textiles and fabric printing. His lamps and dresses recall the fabulous, exotic world of bazaars, harems and caravans that form an important part of the collective imagery of the time, a world his father, the Spanish painter Mariano Fortuny y Marsal, had contributed to creating.

Screening times:

Auckland…16/5 @ 19:00pm, 18/5 @ 10:15am

Wellington… 26/5 @ 18:00pm, 02/6 @ 16:15pm

Dunedin…08/6 @ 17:45pm

Full festival programme

More about Fortuny

Zipcode

If you are coming to Auckland next week, be sure to visit Zipcode, which is on at Old Government House (the venue for day two of the symposium). Full details are on the link below.

Zipcode DLE screen

 

Exhibition: Jo Torr presents Islanders at Objectspace, Auckland

As part of the Auckland Arts Festival, Objectspace is staging Islanders (9 March to 27 April). The exhibition, which is texturally rich and profoundly beautiful, surveys the work of New Zealand sculptor (and CTANZ member) Jo Torr, who explores cultural exchange through the lens of costume and textile history. Islanders brings together works from eleven suites of Torr’s previously exhibited work, along with brand-new works made for Objectspace.  The CTANZ’s pre-symposium get-together will be held at Objectspace on Thursday 21 March from 5.30 to 6.45pm, so make sure you register (for details see the last post). 

Kaitaka by Jo Torr. Photography by Michael Hall.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication featuring large-scale images and commissioned essays by Kolokesa Māhina-Tuai, Andrew Paul Wood, and Chanel Clarke that consider the theme of cultural exchange in Torr’s practice from European, Māori and Pasifika perspectives.

Auckland Symposium Registration Opens

You can find the registration information for the Auckland symposium in March 2013 here – CTANZ 2013 Gathering Registration-1 - and its shaping up to be another fabulous two-days.  Look forward to seeing you all there!

Exhibition: Auckland Museum Identi-Tee project

 A blank T-shirt is like a blank canvas. Put words and images on a Tee and it becomes part of your identity. It’s how you share a joke with mates, challenge the establishment, express your beliefs, push a brand or support a band. Maybe it’s the way you show some love for whānau and friends or some pride for your neighbourhood and NZ. Wear the T-shirt and your story is out there. Auckland Museum is gathering the largest digital collection of T-shirts, with the help of the whole community.

Identi-Tee website - you can load up images of your own Tee's to the museum's Photo Gallery.

In a first for the museum, the digital crowd-sourcing project is running alongside an exhibition by the same name.

Identi-Tee: Taku Tihate, Taku Korero (My T-shirt, My Story) opens in the Tamaki Gallery this weekend.

To seed the digital project, Auckland Museum gathered stories at the Ngapuhi Festival earlier this year, Pasifika and Polyfest and from its own staff.

Identi-Tee co-curator Chanel Clarke, Curator Maori at the museum, says gathering these early t-shirt stories has confirmed the results of the exhibition team’s initial research.

“The depth of meaning attached to these t-shirts and their ability to trigger memories is significant. People attach a vast range of meanings to t-shirts; sometimes it’s simply humour or it can be a way to express a belief, sometimes it is about remembering a place and time, or it can be about identity or unity.”

“Common to the t-shirt stories though is a sense that the t-shirt is the enduring physical manifestation that captures and evokes meaning and memory long after the fact.”

“T-shirts can speak volumes with little more than a slogan or a logo, or a simple image.”

Exhibition developer Janneen Love says inside the exhibition photos of t-shirt-clad New Zealanders, taken by respected photographer Gill Hanly, provide an interesting lens on our past.

“We’ve got peace advocate Alyn Ware in a ‘Nukebuster’ tee with David Lange as nuke-busting hero. Other photos feature a young Pita Sharples in his Te Aute College Jubilee tee and a group performing the haka with t-shirts calling for an end to Waitangi celebrations.”

The exhibition also includes t-shirts from the museum’s collections and a film from visual artist Janet Lilo exploring the connections between t-shirts and identity.

People will be invited to share their t-shirt stories onsite in the gallery and Te Kakano Information Centre and online. The growing digital collection will also appear in the exhibition.

Click here for more information on the Identi-Tee project or to add your t-shirt story.

For more information, imagery or to arrange an interview please contact:
Melanie Cooper E: mcooper@aucklandmuseum.com M: 021 899 062

 

 

 

 

Exhibition of Tongan embroidery and crochet

Objectspace is delighted to present Nimamea’a: The fine arts of Tongan embroidery and crochet- their first major project focused on making from the Pacific (19th November 2011 – 22nd December 2011.)  

Objectspace approached curators Kolokesa Uafa Mahina-Tuai and Manuesina ‘Ofa-ki-Hautolo Mahina in 2010 about developing a project for Objectspace after seeing their Fresh Gallery Otara exhibition Tongan Style. The makers of the works featured in Nimamea’a: The fine arts of Tongan embroidery and crochetare; Kolokesa Kulikefu, Tu’utanga Hunuhunu Mahina, Manuesina Tonata, Lingisiva ‘Aloua, Noma ‘Ofa-ki-Nu’usila Talakia’atu, Falesiu Siu and Lupe Mahe.  Curators Kolokesa Uafa Mahina-Tuai and Manuesina ‘Ofa-ki-Hautolo Mahina state, “We wanted to do a show on the fine arts of Tongan embroidery and crochet simply because of the lack of awareness and visibility that these two art forms have outside of a Tongan context. We hope that this exhibition will give people an aesthetic appreciation of these two art forms and an insight into their significance from a Tongan cultural context.”The exhibition is complemented by Glenn Jowitt’s wonderful collection of fans, hats and place mats.

Exhibition: Smother by Victoria McIntosh

Dunedin based jeweller, Victoria McIntosh, who frequently incorporates textiles into her work, is currently exhibiting in Auckland at Masterworks Gallery,  Ponsonby Road. The blanket is central to her exhibition Smother (on until 24 July).

‘According to McIntosh the words envelop, wrap, enshroud and surround are only a lexical nudge from smother. The blanket that warms and covers can smother and choke. On a national tour, Smother presents new works that teeter between forms of warm-comfort and harmful restriction to explore the process of creating and presenting oneself to the world.

‘In her works, McIntosh has stitched together cream antique blanket as if it were an Elizabethan ruff; embellished with pearls and fluttering white cotton threads. In other pieces, gelatine pills and antique pastry boats have been used. The works of Smother are, first and foremost collectable objects that relate to the body and its socialisation. They are elegantly beautiful while they push the boundaries of what can be worn.’

Diary it: Auckland Vintage Fair Sunday 28 August

 Auckland Vintage Textile Fair

Sunday 28 August  10am – 5pm, $5 entry fee 

 The annual Auckland Vintage Textile Fair will be held as usual at Alexandra Park Raceway, an     excellent venue with plenty of free parking.

Stall holders include  Gill Ward from Victorian Gilt and Yanny Split, Helene Roelants and Kim Smith.

The fair usually includes about 40 stalls and is truely a ‘ Vintage’ event – i.e. no reproductions.

It’s a great place to catch up with friends and there’s a cafe and an all important money machine.

Textile and Design Laboratory (AUT) – May news

New intarsia knitting machine for T+DL

The Textile and Design Lab took delivery of its latest Shima Seiki knitting machine earlier this month. In order to significantly increase the lab’s knit design capabilities, it was decided to invest in a 14 gauge SIG intarsia machine, the first of its kind to be commissioned in New Zealand. The intarsia capability will also support the lab’s R&D work in the area of smart materials using conductive yarns. Senior Technician, Gordon Fraser, will be spending 2 weeks at Shima’s training centre in Wakayama, Japan in July to learn the programming techniques specific to the new machine.

The lab’s new Shima SIG intarsia knitting machine

Get to know the basics

If you or your staff are struggling with textile terms and processing methods used in the industry, they will undoubtedly benefit from our 3 day Fibres to Fashion (Introduction to Textiles) short course being held at the AUT from the 6th-8th July. This fast paced course covers fibre properties, yarn production, knitting, weaving, textile coloration and printing, fabric quality, specifications and care labelling. The final day of the course is devoted to new digital technology being used in the industry.

Contact Textile and Design Lab manager, Peter Heslop, on peter.heslop@aut.ac.nz for a course information sheet. Discounts are available for group bookings of four and over from one organisation and for full time students.

Funding for development of digitally printed merino

The Textile and Design Lab has been awarded $5,000 from AUT Enterprises Limited to help further develop digitally printed merino wool fabrics and garments. Former AgResearch dyeing expert, Les Duckmanton, is working with T+DL staff to help formulate both pre treatment and wet finishing processes that will optimise the uptake of the reactive dyes used in the printing process. Results attained so far have shown a significant improvement in terms of dye retention and the prevention of residual dye from re depositing onto lighter parts of the fabric during wet finishing. The project is expected to be completed by the end of June.

Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia visits T+DL

Recently appointed Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) Hub Project Manager, Craig Driscoll, of the TFIA visited the Textile and Design Lab in late April to take a first-hand look at the technology that the lab has available for its students, researchers and commercial partners, and to gain an understanding of how the lab interacts with local industry. The Australian Textile and Fashion Hub has been funded by AusIndustry to support the commercialisation of ideas and innovations in the TCF industry, as well as to implement workplace learning programs and develop collaborative SME clusters. Mr Driscoll has been engaged to drive the next stage of development for the Hub, consulting with current consortium members to identify and implement specific projects.

Forthcoming short courses

Knitwear Design 1 Day course Sat 2nd July 2011

Fibres to Fashion (Introduction to Textiles) 3 Day course Wed 6th – Fri 8th July 2011

Photoshop Basics 2 Day course Thu 14th – Fri 15th July 2011 Evening course starting Wed 20th July 2011

Photoshop Intermediate for Textile Design 2 Day course Mon 4th – Tue 5th July 2011

Group and student discounts apply to all our short course registration fees. Visit the ‘Courses’ page at www.tdl.aut.ac.nz or email peter.heslop@aut.ac.nz for full details.