Stroud International Textile Festival – May 2010

Having read through the selection of events and talks in the Stroud International Textile Festival brochure, I was thoroughly looking forward to our visit to this event, but what I was also particularly looking forward to was spending some time with the designer/makers who were exhibiting and selling their work at the festival and were also coming along on this trip.

Those makers who attended were Mhairi Killin from Iona, Jenny Deschenes from Spean Bridge, Lizza Hume from Westray in Orkney, Andrea Williamson and Wendy Inkster from Shetland (Jennifer Cantwell from Inverness was exhibiting her work, but was unable to attend the festival). Also attending the trip was Hazel Hughson from Shetland Arts and of course Pamela Conacher, our Crafts Development Coordinator at HI-Arts.

Highlands and Islands Makers at Stroud

As everyone was travelling from a variety of locations throughout the Highlands and Islands and arriving at various times on the Thursday evening, we agreed to meet up at breakfast on the Friday morning. It was clear from the start that this was going to be a very enjoyable way to spend a couple of days, everyone very quickly got to know each other as the makers talked about their plans for the next few days, what they hoped to get from the visit and how it would be interesting to see how their work looked ‘in situ’ and what the other work would look like in comparison.

We had been invited to the opening of the textile festival which was being held at a gorgeous location called the ‘Museum in The Park’ in Stroud.

The opening itself was very busy and was held in a gallery space within the Museum. There was work on display from several of the artists who were exhibiting as part of the festival, this was also a great chance to mingle with other exhibitors and take in the splendid surroundings. I have to say that I was quite smitten with the work of jewellery designer Angela O’Kelly, whose work is quite sculptural and crosses the boundaries of jewellery, textiles and sculpture. I also loved seeing Jo Barkers tapestries – such a fantastic use of colour, and also loved the fantastic range of felt animals by Annie Hutchison, which were on exhibition in the foyer of the museum. I also particularly enjoyed hearing Sir Christopher Frayling talk as he officially opened the festival; he was so inspiring and talked about craft with such a passion.

Deirdre Nelson has been working as Artist in Residence in Stroud in the lead up to the festival and her installation of swing-ball on the front lawn outside the museum was really great fun – she also had installed her embroidered tennis balls throughout the museum exhibits and it really worked well.

We then ventured in to the town of Stroud as a group and went to find the Made in Stroud shop where the Made in Highlands work was being exhibited and was for sale. Thanks to the very handy festival brochure, we found the shop quite easily. It was a little nerve racking waiting to she how the work looked, as you appreciated that the makers have invested quite a lot of time and money in sending their work to Stroud and attending this visit and that they wanted their work to be shown in the right environment, surrounded by products of similar quality.

Thankfully when we arrived we were told that some of the work had been sold already and that there had been a great level of interest from everyone who had come in to the shop. I have to say that the quality work for the Highlands and Islands makers was fantastic, I was familiar with each of the makers’ work, having seen it online or having featured them on the HI-Arts website, but you really have to see the work in real life to appreciate how great it is. We all commented on how great all of the work looked together, although it was felt that perhaps a little more space could have been provided and I know that Mhairi Killin felt that she felt her work may have looked better in more of a gallery-type venue.

Made in Highlands at Stroud International Textile Festival

After making a few purchases in the shop (well, you have to treat yourself!!) we returned to the hotel and proceeded to have a great evening full of conversation and laughter. I have to say that on a personal level I really enjoyed spending time with a group of people who have a similar background, we had lots of fun conversations about our experiences at art college and it was great to hear how they went on to then progress in to running their own businesses – a route that I often wonder whether I should have gone down at the time of leaving college. No regrets now though, as working with HI-Arts I still get to indulge my love of design and work with some of these great makers.

Saturday

As the festival was now officially open, many of us had planned which of the exhibitions and talks we wanted to attend. Pamela and I wanted everyone to have the freedom to attend the events they wanted to so once we arrived in Stroud, we all agreed to ‘do our own thing’ and meet up later in the day.

Along with Pamela and Jenny Deschenes, we went to visit Losing the Thread Textile Artists which was held on the top floor of the Kendrick Art Shop, it was a tiny space, but I really liked the idea of having the exhibition in this venue. Then on to the exhibit by the Cork Textiles Network at Stroud Subscription Rooms, a good selection of work, in a great bright space.

What I liked about the exhibits is that many of them were in unusual locations, shops such as Millets and Oxfam had installations in their windows and they really made an impact. I felt holding a textiles festival in a town that has such a rich textile heritage was an important part of the impact of the festival too, this would be an important aspect to consider if planning a similar event in the Highlands and Islands, that and somehow making all the venues an accessible distance from one another, with a great map etc to guide visitors from venue to venue.

Pamela and I had pre-booked tickets for a couple of talks in the afternoon – Material Activism by Dr Jessica Hemmings and ‘In Conversation: Contemporary Tapestry’ with Jo Barker and Sara Brennan.

I thoroughly enjoyed the talk by Dr Jessica Hemmings, she really opened my eyes to the range of works being done throughout the world, and how powerful a medium textiles can be to point out injustices and issues that are going on in the world now.

Again it was good to hear about processes and influences from Jo Barker and Sara Brennan – perhaps it would have been more powerful to have this talk staged in the exhibition space so that they could have talked about their work whilst us being amongst it.

That evening we were all invited to attend a supper with fellow exhibitors and Lizzie Walton who organises the festival. This was a good opportunity to chat with makers from other areas in a very relaxed environment – we were sat beside some of the makers from the Cork Textiles Network, it was interesting to hear about their stories, what they made and a little about where they lived. It is so important to have these sort of opportunities to mix with makers in a more social occasion.

Sunday – unfortunately I had to leave early to next day to travel home, but I was left wanting more.

Avril Souter, May 2010