Studio Seven

At the beginning of August I travelled to Stroud on the edge of the Cotswolds to meet with the Director of the highly regarded Stroud International Textile Festival, Lizzi Walton as well as members of several groups in the area.

The landscape is very different from the Highlands but we have a lot in common including issues around rural isolation, strong textile traditions and their makers struggle as ours do to raise the profile of their work, get new audiences and keep inspired.

Their Textile festival is a wonderful example of what can be achieved when a group takes a germ of an idea and runs with it.

Now moving into its fourth year, the festival encompasses an ambitious and inspirational programme of events to do with all things textiles – many of them not as you would imagine! When they first started the festival they got a lot of stick from traditional groups saying – ‘this is not textiles!’ So it has been a struggle to get people to understand that they are trying to demonstrate that textiles are not just textiles as we usually think of them and to engage with new and diverse audiences. This year a member of one of the groups that was upset about the first festival said – ‘I get it now!’

From small but very ambitious beginnings, the festival now attracts over 12,000 visitors from all over the world and transforming this small town over a period of 21days in May with a heady mix of exhibitions, talks, music, performance, residencies, circus, debate and with work from jewellers, basket makers as well as textile makers from woven to printed and everything in-between!

One of the most inventive translations of ‘textiles’ comes from a group of 7 textile artists who have combined their talents as makers to take their work to a new audience through performance. Studio Seven combines textiles, dance and sound and the work is performed in stunning locations from buildings to gardens with each work responding to the location and having an interactive audience participation element. You need to be there to really understand how the journey from a flat pattern to a finished garment can be a transformed into a something so innovative!

The way that this group work together, pool ideas and skills, think creatively and then create an event that is so far reaching in its appeal that it pushes the boundaries of all their combined talents is a real inspiration.

From Stroud, Lizzi took me to visit the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen annual show. Alongside their own show they had a curated exhibition of work from invited makers and artists. This was a wonderful way to combine both inspirational work from new people and work from the guild members. One part of the show really appealed to me – delicious lunches and cakes made by members of the group and served with beautiful ceramics, woven napkins, wooden bowls and interesting staff who really know the work on display – they make it!

The festival, exhibition and the diverse programme demonstrates what can be achieved when you really think about how to get a new audience and how to make your group a success, when you take a small idea and then build on it.

The leadership and vision of Lizzi must go a long way to pulling it all together but the work achieved here left me inspired, enthused and even more determined to ensure that our makers continue to make things happen in our own small part of the country!

Pamela Conacher , 5 August 2009

Links:

www.stroudinternationaltextiles.org.uk

www.studio-seven.net