Shetland Arts and Southampton University are proud to present In the Loop 3.5: Making Connections, as part of the Shetland Arts’ International Textile Festival 2013. In The Loop 3.5 is an international conference with a focus on knitting, a Nordic theme, and an emphasis on the development of contemporary textile cultures. Tickets for this three-day conference are now on sale and available to purchase via Shetland Box Office.

In The Loop 3.5 takes place in Shetland from 31 July to 2 August 2013, as part of Shetland Arts’ International Textile Festival which will run from 31 July to 5 August. Conference goers will hear speakers who may be artists, curators, designers, knitters, theorists, or historians. In the Loop 3.5 starts in Mareel then conference days 2 and 3 will transfer to Shetland Museum & Archives.

The official opening of the Shetland Arts’ International Textile Festival happens with the commencement of In the Loop 3.5 on 31 July. In the Loop3.5 is the fourth in a series of acclaimed knitting conferences initiated and led by Linda Newington from the University of Southampton Library, and run this time in collaboration with Shetland Arts, as part of the Festival. The conference will focus on making connections and the way textile cultures may develop in the 21st century, with a strong Nordic theme running throughout the conference and the Festival as a whole.

The Shetland Arts’ International Textile Festival is a festival for everyone, and will cover the broad activity of textiles including art, knitting, design, education and business. The Festival is about exploring the contemporary potential and future of textiles, making new connections, and learning from other textile cultures.

As part of the Festival, Shetland Arts will welcome a group of ten textile artists from Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, exhibiting along with two Shetland artists, in Lighten, an exhibition in Bonhoga Gallery from 3rd August to 15th September. The exhibiting artists will take part in the public opening of Lighten on Saturday 3 August from 11am to 1pm, and give gallery talks. The exhibiting artists will also be attending In the Loop 3.5. Three of the artists; Agneta Hobin, Gudrun Gunnarsdottir, and Ulla-Maija Vikman; are responsible for originating the international exhibition in collaboration with Shetland Arts.

The Festival will also include textile tours, gallery talks, and Meet Shetland Textiles, a free networking event for the public, textile makers, artists, knitters, designers, the exhibiting artists and delegates.

Over the International Textile Festival weekend, events will take place in Mareel, Bonhoga Gallery, Shetland Museum & Archives and other places in Shetland.

Tickets for In the Loop 3.5 went on sale yesterday, and in the coming weeks tickets for more Festival events will also go on sale. Tickets for the conference cost £75 for the full three days and are available to book now via Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, or online here: http://www.mareel.org/learn/workshops-talks-masterclasses/shetland-arts-textile-festival/

For more information, including the programme for the Festival, see: http://www.shetlandarts.org/whats-on/festivals/international-textile-festival/

Source: Shetland Arts