Friday Fibers Roundup

July 14, 2017

This week’s Friday Fibers Roundup features a mix of workshops, flax processing, the politics of everyday materials, as well open-source activism through banners and protests.

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1) “Open-Source Activism” by Sarah Archer looks at the powerful use of bold, graphic banners in relation to protests throughout history (via American Craft Council).

2) A charity is bringing community members together in Greece to turn old blankets into winter coats for refugees (The International New York Times).

3) The San Francisco School of Needlework & Design is hosting “Stitch Clinic: Padding and Couching” on Wednesday, July 26th from 9:30am-3:30pm.

4) This huge amount of flax debris was recently recovered from an Iron Age ring gully near Doncaster, England, and are thought to be the by-products of the flax retting process (via Wessex Archeology).

5) Artist Callista Suh intricately sews the complex histories and experiences of the Korean American Experience onto Canvas, as if she was drawing with thread (via Creators).

6) This video shows the labor intensive, traditional process of making linen from flax.

7) The Online Knitting Reference Library currently has over 300 knitting books, patterns, and memorabilia from 1849 to 2012 available for download (via Open Culture).

8) The event Queer Threads Panel + Crochet Jam at SF Art Book Fair is on Saturday, July 22nd from 1-3pm and features a panel and book signing with featured artists Jai Andrew Carrillo, James Gobel, Ramekon O’Arwisters, and Angie Wilson and curator John Chaich, followed by a Crochet Jam with O’Arwisters.

9) “From Oyster Shells to Cardboard Bales, the Politics of Everyday Materials” by Gretchen Coombs explores how the world’s growth, gentrification, increased mobility, rise of digital technology, and lasting colonial legacies impact the materials used in Australian art (via Hyperallergic).

10) The company Taxi Fabric is helping taxi cab drivers in India completely transform the inside of their cabs with original art by local designers (via Colossal).