Instead of calling myself a "weaver" and what I do "weaving", Ben says I should call myself an "orite" and what I do, "ori" just so I am different from the rest of you. NOT! It's all marketing, isn't it?
"Boro" is a combination of embroidery and quilting, as it turns out! I got the proposal written by Waka from the workshop coordinator.
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3 Day workshop SLOW CLOTH
“Boro Transformed: patching, piecing, stitching”
Tutor: Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada
Hands-on workshop for artists who are interested in Patchwork, Quilting, Embroidery, Collage and Painting.
This workshop is inspired by a group of Japanese folk textile and clothing from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, such as padded sleeping mattresses and comforters, fisherman’s coats, lumberjack’s vests, and other everyday wear. These were dyed in indigo and extensively patched and darned as necessary, utilizing regional resources to the limit.
In my forthcoming book, I am using the Japanese term boro to define a new aesthetic and to bring new meaning to an alternative creative process, e.g., darning = healing, meditative action = marking time, reuse/repair = recording history. "Boro" represents the transformation of inconsequential material to something precious and valuable. Ordinarily, these tattered, castaway rags and the articles pieced together from them would be considered of little to no value. Boro, on the other hand, are viewed as beautiful in a way that defies convention. This type of imperfect beauty possesses a power that resonates with people almost like an emotional barometer. It points to an alternative value of "beauty" slowly coming to surface in our social consciousness.
Participants will learn about traditional Japanese common textiles made with boro (rags and fabric scraps) and will reinterpret this folk tradition by creating a fabric collage using layering, piecing, sewing and darning. Participants will also explore the use of water-soluble sheets to create open, lace-like structures in collage. Scrap fabrics will be provided by dosa inc. of Los Angeles (www.dosainc.com), and participants are also welcome to bring their own recycled, used, stained scraps or motheaten woollens to incorporate into their project.
3 comments:
You have some amazing workshops available there. It's always such interesting reading on your blog. Just love it!
Who is organising the workshop in Nelson, Meg. I would like to keep an eye on whats on.
Theresa, it's rare that we get "international names" here in town. Or at least those I find out about. I think.
Dianne, this one was set up by the same Deb as Aotearoa Creative Textiles. Classes and workshops in Nelson are organized by all kinds of people and the hardest thing is to learn about them and find out who's organizing. Most often it's word of mouth, and often by going to another workshop that one hears about past/future workshops! It's kind of like anything else in Nelson.
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