GEN DOY performs WATER at the Material Flow opening event. Museum in the Park

WORKSHOP

SATURDAY 21 SEPTEMBER

Functional Felt & Fibre Cord with Connie Flynn

Fleece to felt, this experimental felt making workshop will be an opportunity to explore neutral fibres, to create your functional felt tool roll. It will give you an understanding of the felt making process with the focus on fabric, cords and pockets. The outcome possibilities are endless, the felt rolls could be used as a for tools, brushes, pencils, pegs etc.

Connie Flynn

Connie is a multi-skilled textile artist/maker, who has exhibited her work for over twenty seven years. She has a B.A. (Hons) in Art and Education, and a Post Graduate qualification in Art Therapy, with much experience of teaching all ages and abilities and extensive experience of arts residencies in a variety of contexts. In 2015 she completed a B.A. (Hons) in Contemporary Textiles in Shetland, developing her arts practice with a Shetland influence.

Website: https://themakers.directory/craft-directory-members/connieflynn/products/

Date - 21st September 2019

Time: 2pm - 5pm

Materials - Supplied in full

Venue - Museum in the Park, Stroud

For further details: https://museuminthepark.org.uk

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EVENTS
Artists and curator ‘in conversation’ sessions
In these sessions, artists will talk about their work in relation to the Material Flow exhibition and the broader topics associated with it. These are informal discussions encouraging dialogue on museum artefacts, cultural heritage and the contribution to contemporary art practices.
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Sunday 15th September
‘Responding to material histories’
Responding to cloth with textiles Heidi Flaxman & Sian Lester

Exploring depths in/on surface: Christine Felce, Susan Kester, Edward Jeavons

The postcolonial turn: Victoria Burgher in conversation with curator Patricia Brien
Anna Cady in conversation
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Sunday 22nd September
‘Futuring material histories’
Material currencies: Bridget Kennedy & Mair Hughes
Capturing an essence: Tara Downs & Bart Sabel
Time: 2pm - 4pm
Venue: Main Gallery, Museum in the Park, Stroud

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Artist call out - Material Flow

Wool & Water Festival, 2019

Exhibition at the Main Gallery, Museum in the Park, Stroud

Exhibition dates: 31st August - 22nd September 2019

Application due date: 30th June 2019

Curator: Patricia Brien

This year we are looking for works of individual interpretation and creative engagement with one or more selected artefacts (see below) responsive to the broader historical, cultural, natural or industrial backgrounds. Some suggested guidance points & ideas are listed with the artefacts but are not prescriptive. There are many factors that made this renowned woollen material possible and artists are invited to consider those wider issues. We are looking for an imaginative range of interpretations – the artist’s view.

The work will be of interest to general audiences at the Material Flow exhibition and related Wool & Water Festival events.

Artists may respond in a variety of artistic media – 2D and 3D formats including textile art, painting, illustration, photography, installation, or moving image. DEADLINE 30th June

[In addition, Hawkwood College are making available a funded five-day full board artist residency at their venue set in the Cotswolds. There are 2 residencies available for submitting artists who can apply through the Wool and Water Festival website and the successful applicants will be chosen irrespective of whether their work is chosen for the exhibition.]

Artists are invited to upload up to 3 images for selection for a fixed admin fee towards marketing costs, payable to the Stroud Textile Trust charity, of £10. Please see artists submissions on www.woolandwater.org

Enquiries: patricia.brien16@bathspa.ac.uk

THE ARCHIVE PIECES

Water & hydropower

Medieval mill paddles

Workers & the working life

Artisans and Guilds

Small-scale industries

Seasonal rhythms

Life along the canals and rivers

Textile and trade routes

‘Stroud Samples’ - markers of quality

The broadcloths - adopted as ‘wearing blankets’ by the indigenous peoples of North America

[Further reading: Willmott, C (2005) ‘From Stroud to Strouds: The Hidden History of a British Fur Trade Textile’ in Textile History, 36:2, pp 196-234]

Shifting industry - from Stroud to Yorkshire.

Dyeing processes - plants, insects, industry secrets

iii. Living Landscapes

Architecture

Agricultural practices

Cloth industry, trade & capital

Stroud Valley waterways

Colours & Landscape

Culture & community

iv. Human-Animal relations

The ‘Prize’ sheep painting trend

[The Sheep painting dated to c1800 and is one of two, the second was painted by Thomas Holm but this one on display in the Museum in the Park is not signed. The museum has no history of either of them, but portraits of this type usually depicted a ‘prize’ animal. Reading on this intriguing historical trend here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/britain-cows-pig-sheep-paintings-livestock