Threads
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Update // The Threads exhibition ran from 28 November 2018 to 27 January 2019 at Ruthin Craft Centre, and from 14 September to 9 November 2019 at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
A book about the project is available for £16. Email us at info@fieldworking.co.uk if you’d like to order a copy or see sample pages. Free postage.
And, the Edeifion | Threads film highlighting Rajiben and Champa can be found here.
We're delighted to have secured support from Wales Arts International, the Arts Council of Wales and the British Council towards a textiles project curated by Ceri. It involves residencies in Wales and India and an exhibition.
Threads unfolds across 2017 and 2018. It focuses on the work of seven female artists and the contexts and narratives integral to their practices. Three artists from Wales travelled to rural Gujarat in November 2017 for a three week residency at Khamir. Here they shared studio time with local artisans, made field visits to some of the indigenous craft communities and took time to discover the historic town of Bhuj.
The region they explored is Kachchh, a remote area in western Gujarat and home to a dynamic breadth of nomadic and pastoral communities. The indigenous craft practices are multifarious and rich, they are knitted into the agricultural and multi-cultural heritage of the region. Weaving, dyeing, block printing and embroidery are just a handful of the crafts championed by skilled individuals. These rich traditions are alive and continue to develop, they are rooted in skills and aesthetics passed down through generations and over centuries.
Artisans from Kachchh will travel to Wales in 2018 and be hosted by Carmarthen School of Art for a two week residency and visit Ruthin Craft Centre.
Everyone involved in the project is working towards a group exhibition of work by all the artists. This will be a Ruthin Craft Centre exhibition which is likely to tour on elsewhere.
Artists and artisans
Threads brings together a wonderful group of artists, from Wales:
Julia Griffiths Jones
http://www.juliagriffithsjones.co.uk
Eleri Mills
http://www.elerimills.co.uk
http://www.jessicahemmings.com/eleri-mills-a-longing-for-landscape/
Laura Thomas
http://www.laurathomas.co.uk
Louise Tucker
http://www.louisetucker.net
And from Kachchh, Rajiben Murji, Champa Kishore and Zakiya Khatri.
Partners
We are delighted to be working with a partner organisation in Gujarat, Khamir. Khamir is a registered Society and Public Trust, jointly established by Kachchh Nav Nirman Abhiyan and the Nehru Foundation following the devastating earthquake in the region in 2001. Khamir is a platform for the craft, heritage and cultural ecology of the region. It supports rural crafts communities in the Kachchh region of Gujarat through identifying and developing sustainable markets. It works closely with individual artisans and with their communities to develop practice. Located just outside of Kachchh’s main urban centre Bhuj, Khamir is a purpose built campus comprising studios, workshops and accommodation.
Ruthin Craft Centre and Carmarthen School of Art at Coleg Sir Gâr, UWTSD are key partners in Wales. It is exciting to be working hand-in-hand with both organisations in realising different aspects of the project.
http://ruthincraftcentre.org.uk
http://www.colegsirgar.ac.uk/en/about-coleg-sir-gar/csoa
Threads is being financially supported by the Arts Council of Wales, Wales Arts International and the British Council.
