Review: Vive le Shibori! in FiberArts (Apr/May'09)

Vive le Shibori!

So proclaims Barbara Shapiro in her report of the goings-on at the 7th ISS08 in France (FiberArts, Apr/May 2009). View article here

It's a nicely edited, tight article synopsizing the symposium's program offerings. Special mentions were given to particular artists and extracurricular events, including the juried student exhibition, "Design Shibori". Barbara gives a nod to the parallels drawn between techniques practiced on far away continents and closes with a nice wrap-up of the various presentations & workshops that enforced the symposium's theme of nature, sustainability and responsibility -- from Garcia's cool water dye baths (responsible industrial practices) to Urbanek's natural dye techniques (social responsibility) to label Sou.Sou's rejuvenation of traditional Japanese garb for the youth market (sustaining shibori artisans).

Report: ISS08 symposium & tour, Textile Forum (1/09)

Seems there's a lot in this month's TF magazine for this blog to talk about.

Two more well-informed articles in the current issue of TextileForum (Jan '09) but this time on our event -- the 7th International Shibori Symposium - France, Nov '08 (ISS08)

click here to read scans of both reports

The ISS conference report, written by Veronika Moos-Brochhagen, is a great summary of all the events and presentations comprising the ISS'08 held in 3 locations: Provence, Lyon and Paris. As an attendee, the author was able to surmise the strengths of the program, its shortcomings, as well as contextualize what the experience offered her as a European artist.

"[A] lively exchange with the local textile cultural scene occurred when the programme moved to Lyon, with exhibitions and talks at the Lumiere university."

Karina van Vught contributed the article summarizing the ISS tour offerings from Nimes to Paris. As her piece illustrates, it was a packed program. She concludes,

"For me, the tour was an unforgettable experience in a very special environment: the food, the wine.... We enjoyed it all and were thoroughly pampered. Moreover, all the visits and lectures were highly informative."

Our thanks to Veronika (www.shibori.eu) and Karina van Vught (Zijdelings) for their insightful articles on the ISS tour programme. We appreciate your active involvement and leadership in the shibori community of Europe.

We value the viewpoints offered in the article, especially those that critiqued -- from space planning for the bazaar to insufficient time for follow-up. These are all good things we will consider for the next symposium. Thank you.

More photos from Susan Fell McLean

Susan pointed us to her great ISS08 photo sets on flickr so I couldn't resist giving them their own post. Now you, readers, can enjoy them just the same. Have a first-hand peek at some of the great activities and exhibitions that was the French shibori immersion trip.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sfmcl/sets/

Articles in Magic Patch magazine

Happy new year everyone! Hope you're all looking forward to the promise of new opportunities in 2009.

We're pleased to announce that Magic Patch magazine has published two articles about the ISS08 in issue #78.

"7ieme Shibori reportage," written by Gül Laporte, author of Quilts from Europe: Projects & Inspiration, is a great report of the overall event.
"Renoué" exhibition report, written by Clarisse Bioud, is a lovely review of the art show produced by the association Trame de Soi for musee de l'imprimerie de Lyon (3-30 Nov 2008). Have a look-see and enjoy!

Both are written in French and rich in images. Download the full article and see all the photos! (file available here on our main website)

Yoshiko reflects on the ISS & WSN

The following is an excerpt of an email response written by Yoshiko to a longtime WSN supporter. This person asked Yoshiko to offer some of her own personal thoughts on the ISS and to share her perspective on the event as its Co-Chair and as WSN President. With Yoshiko's permission, I post it here for everyone to read. She writes:

My focus on our symposia is always on how to create a gathering of creative minds where everyone feels ownership in what we organize. The event and opportunities should be reciprocal and gratifying for all involved. I wish we had more time at the MdQB plenary sessions for the audience and presenters to exchange views and explore the subjects further. I hope frank expression of opinions and correction of facts should be allowed.

Reflections:
RE:natural dyes: After our experience in Provence, especially after talking with Barbara Barois, Director of the Conservatoire des Ocres et Pigments Appliques, it became clear to me that it would be more appropriate to address "Natural Colorants: Dyes and Pigments" to view the dyes in a larger context.

And also studying with Michel Garcia. This made made me realize that artists, artisans and designers need to fortify ourselves with the understanding of chemistry and we need to approach the art of natural dyeing with analytical mind.

From our experience in France: Between all these great people (Dominique Cardon, Michel Garcia, Anne de la Sayette, Isabel Brouillet, Pauline Duponchel de Bary, and Roussillon Ochre Conservancy (Conservatoire des Ocres et Pigments Appliques) and Association de Couleur Garance in Lauris), you/we all have so much more perspective on this. It was wonderful to see the dye plants at the garden in Lauris.

(ed note: this was in response to a specific comment about the artist) RE: Genevieve Dion: yes, many people were enthusiastic about her vision. We need to always redefine what we do, where we are, and where we want to be -- especially in educating the young people as well as ourselves. You see, we, including you, are truly shaping our field and community together. This is not only about cloth. The Jacquard and Entrepreneurial conference sounds very interesting. The designing of fashion and interior furnishings begins where the designer can create the canvas with the understanding of the entire process all the way to the end-products.

Web revamp

Hey all,
We've been silent here for a while because we've been focusing our attention on revamping our website for www.shibori.org. Why? We wanted an easier platform for in-house updates. Closer control means better content for you, timely updates and a richer website. We're also rethinking some aspects of the site (special web membership access) and other excellent things to make this not-for-profit, volunteer-run organization function more smoothly and efficiently.

In the meanwhile, you can see some new ISS08 pic uploads to our flickr and here are some additional feedback comments from Barbara S and Sara K. THANKS, Friends! If you are not yet on our mailing list but want to be, click here

Barbara S writes:
Dear Peter and Yoshiko,
ISS France 08 was just outstanding. You provided us with a very inclusive and informative event and the best of French food, wine and culture! Thank you so much.

Sara K writes:
I thoroughly enjoyed the symposium and would like to thank everyone who was involved with the organisation for such a diverse and interesting programme. I look forward to the next one!.......

Gunma Silk + NZ merino wool

This note from Deb Donnelly offers some nice feedback about the ISS and it also raises a common question we repeatedly receive: how to purchase Gunma silk. So read on for our response. And, if you're ever curious to find the best NZ merino wool, Deb is a great resource. She specializes in textile design for fabric prints and fashion using natural dyed merino wool, fine silk cloth and hi-tech garments & fibers.

From Deb:

A note to say how much I enjoyed the wonderful textile and visual
experiences you and Peter put together for the tour of France at ISS08.
It was exceptional not to mention the location and I have made a number
of technological advances, finds, treasures and future teaching contacts.
I now look forward to being the NZ shibori rep and three upcoming
exhibitions to celebrate our National Day in NZ on 6 February.
This means sampling wool and silk treatments for dye and shibori
experiments in the coming months. My request to you is how do I purchase Japanese gunma silk by yardage? Do you have any in stock? How much is it? I am also happy to advise shibori artists on the best NZ merino wool supplies for fine felt shibori and nuno works.


Well, Deb (and others): you can purchase meterage of gunma silk (a specialty silk with sericin that responds incredibly well to shibori) through our office. Stock fluctuates so it's always best to inquire directly with the office. Prices are not available online yet but we're working on a separate website / online shop for these such purposes. You can email us at:

orders [at] yoshikowada [dot] com

More: ISS08 feedback

Belated Happy Thanksgiving to our fellow American friends! Wanted to share more feedback from folks across the globe. It is really great to hear how worthwhile the ISS was for those of you who were able to make it. We know that to travel so far, and especially in these economic times, was a big commitment for you and, as well, a huge uncertainty for us and for PAA. It's really helpful to hear about your experiences so thank you for sharing them. Today's messages come from Mary Mortenson (USA), Clara Schreiber (USA) and Yvonne Wakabayshi & Cindy Do (Canada).

Mary writes:
I want to express my gratitude for all that you did to make the International Shibori Symposium so incredible. You both are incredible and made it possible for us to have experiences we would never have otherwise had. It was very special and memorable. - Mary

Clara:
Thank you again Yoshiko and Peter for a wonderful experience!

Yvonne writes:
Cindy and I are home reflecting on our ISS08 experience and we both were so happy to be there to take advantage of all the programs and events. In the short time, we can say that we managed to do so much and enjoyed all of it...the plenary sessions, the many exhibitions, all of it..... Oh yes...all the food! It was Cindy's first time in Paris and she even took advantage of free time to use the Museum pass and Metro pass to see all that she dreamed of.....ex Mona Lisa (no line-ups) etc etc. Thanks for all the details of organizing (with Peter) many many details. Both the stay in Lyon and Paris were much more than we expected. We both thank you and Peter for your dedicated work in the planning of such an event. We are very appreciative and now I will try to share much of what I have learned with students and fellow shibori enthusiasts. Thank you again and when you are in touch with Peter, please thank him for us too. - Yvonne & Cindy

Rin Ikeda & Barbara Shapiro

Barbara Shapiro forwarded a few pics from the ISS event last month. Here's a great one of her (R) with Rin Ikeda (L) taken at the musee du quai Branly "MQB" during the Paris symposium.

Rin was featured in the Presentation des Artistes/ Defile (runway show) on Nov 8 where she showed off her elegant fashions made of gambiered (mud dyed) silk from Guangdong, China. Barbara, a WSN web member and a TSA Board member, demonstrated “Hexagonal plaiting for sculptural work” as part of the Paris courses held at the PAA. Barbara’s French translation skills also came in very handy! Thanks for being at the ready, Barbara.

photo courtesy of Barbara Shapiro

Greetings from Sophena in Canada

We received a really nice note from Sophena Kwon and Danielle Bush, delegates from Canada who represented Maiwa Handprints at the ISS this year. Sophena writes:

I haven't stopped talking, and hope never will, of our incredible trip around france with you and many other wonderful people. Our hearts are full, our minds are stimulated and energized, our souls are deeply deeply happy. The whole experience made such an impact on both mine and dani's life. I wanted you to know this. Thank you! Here are some photos I know you will like.

"Design Shibori" travels to UK

"Design Shibori," the int'l juried student exhibition for ISS is traveling to a few venues following the premiere at ENSAD in Paris. We are pleased to announce the exhibitors chosen for the Harrogate, UK show:
1) Anna Bramhall "Indigo on Organza" (UK)
2) Mustafa Kula "Mediterranean Traces" (Turkey)
3) Alice Egler & Sonia Dupont "Briques de laine et teintures rythmiques" (France)
4) Sally Blake "Same, same, but different" (Australia)
5) Ranghui Guo & Guoxiang Yuan "Yanshui" (China)
6) Haruko Goto "Kasane" (Japan)
7) Sarah King (UK)

Design Shibori student exhibition

Forgive the lo-res scans but wanted to quickly post a few pics from the lovely catalogue created for the juried international student exhibition, "Design Shibori" - le premier councours international d'ecoles d'art (27 Oct-8 Nov 2008) hosted by ENSAD for the ISS. Congratulations to the wonderfully imaginative student artists and kudos to the photographer whose images are beautiful and visually provocative. ENSAD was not selling the catalogues so we were happy to have received a few copies. If you have pics of the installation, please share them. We'll see if we have time to scan better images and throw them on to flickr or something.

Acknowledgements noted in book:
THANK YOUs: Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, Nancy Salumbides, Marie-Hélène Guelton, Peter Carman, Jean-Michel Ageron-Blanc, Sharon Kilfoyle, Diane Sparks, Michelle Griffiths, Liz Williamson, Veronika Moos, Marine Biras, Shukuko Voss-Tabe, Hiroko Watanabe, Kinor Jiang. CREDITS: Patrick Raynaud (directeur de la publication); Colette Martin (commissaire de l'exposition); Steen Halbro (scénographe); Shuntao Chen (création graphique et mise en page Photographie)


L-R: Top row: Saito Tomoko, untitled (tama art university, jpn); Roisin Cagney, "this is not just sushi" (national college of art & design, ireland); Bottom row: Andonimouttou Florie, "papier non tisse mobile" (ENSCI-ANAT, france); Sally Blake, "same, same but different" (univ new south wales, australia).