Skip to main content

International Women's Day 2015 - Newcastle

Some of the fabric tiles with the small drawing of Elsie Randall's design for the entire mosaic. 
Newcastle’s Timeless Textiles Gallery will mark International Women’s Day on 8  March with an innovative and collaborative exhibition – Letting Go – which will include the placement of a large-scale art installation outside the Lock-up Gallery and Curve Gallery, Hunter Street , Newcastle East. 

The installation, a 72-square metre fabric mosaic designed by local Aboriginal elder and artist Elsie Randal, will be placed on the footpath outside the historical gaol to symbolise the need for Australians, and people from other nations, to cleanse and heal historical pain.

The Letting Go installation is inspired by a community ritual held in a small Italian village each year, where townsfolk colour bark chips and scatter them in the square. A respected community elder then leads a walk through the chips, scattering them as a symbol of cleansing and letting go of old enmities.

Over 350 people have created approximately 1800 fabric tiles.. printing, mark-making, stitching and felting, by attending workshops, run by local fibre artists Naomi Wild, Wilma Simmons and Ruth Spence.  NCEATA- Newcastle Creativ e Embroiderers and Textiles Artists- have  also spent many hours stitching creating part of the design.

“Layers of stories have emerged as people explore their creative expression in the workshops,” Anne said. “Individual life experiences, a strong local sense of place and a collective of thoughts on the global issues facing women today have all been represented by group members.”

The resulting works will be on exhibition for a walk-through on Sunday, 8 March as part of the Letting Go International Women’s Day celebration at 2pm. Individuals, families and community groups are invited to participate in Letting Go – collectively, creatively and meaningfully. The walk with be led by Lord Major, Nuatali Nelmes and Elsie Randall.



NCEATA working on the project 

Lisa from Curve Gallery assembling part of the installation. 

A sample of the 1800 + fabric tiles. 
If you live in or near Newcastle NSW, I hope to see you at our International Women's Day art  event. Celebrate the achievements of women all around the world. Protect  and the support the women and girls who are still living in the shadows of others in fear.   Make it Happen !  Happy International Women's Day to all! 
Make It Happen : IWD theme 2015. 
PS Watch this blog space for photos of  Sunday's event. - 8 March : 2pm

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

 Background Information:  Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start  with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound  silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap.  2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...

Bilby Infatuation

  Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016  Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes  - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary.   Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's  Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers).  This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach.    Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...