“Always keep a diamond in your mind.” —Tom Waits Spiraling In reading our friend Janet deBoer’s most recent Fibre Forum E-bulletin, I learned about Spiral Textile: Ancient Design–Modern Hands. This is a juried competition challenging textile artists from around the world to produce a repeating spiral design that was drawn on an ancient papyrus. The drawing […]
In our ongoing recognition of an institution that works to preserve and celebrate traditional textiles, our hats are tipped this month to the Fowler Museum at the University of California Los Angeles. The Fowler’s mission is to enhance understanding and appreciation of diverse peoples and cultures of the world through its exhibitions and public programs. And it does! Fowler in Focus […]
A few nights ago, Linda Ligon, Deborah Chandler—who’s visiting from her home in Guatemala—and I found our way to the Indigenous Film and Arts Festival in Denver. The January feature was Weaving Worlds, a 2007 documentary by Navajo filmmaker Bennie Klain. Weaving Worlds records the lives of several Navajo weavers and their struggles to maintain […]
Here in Havana My extended family and I (all fifteen of us) spent Christmas in Cuba. We stayed in random Airbnb rooms in Havana’s old Centro neighborhood, in once-grand shabby houses where the amenities were sparse but the people were wonderful. A couple of our hostesses made daily breakfast—eggs, black beans, fruit (bring your own hot […]