Showing posts with label philautextiles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label philautextiles. Show all posts
Saturday, April 12, 2014
PhilaU Textile Designers travel to West Africa!
As part of the spring break short courses offered in the textile design program, several of our students and faculty traveled to West Africa to look at and learn about traditional textiles. We caught up with Sam and Mary after the trip to hear about their experiences.
How did you spend your spring break?
Sam: We traveled to West Africa, Senegal and Burkina Faso, to study textiles!
What was the focus of the trip and what were some of the stops on the itinerary?
Sam: The focus of the trip was West African textiles. In Senegal we went to the HLM textile market, Mandiack weaving cooperative and visited fashion designers Claire Kane and Mame Fagueye Ba.
In Burkina Faso we visited master weavers, traditional indigo dye pits, rug weaving studio, and a granite sculpture garden.
Mary: African Textiles. We got to visit weaving cooperatives, indigo dye village and african designers
What surprised you the most?
Sam: The heat in Burkina Faso!
Mary: Everyone was so welcoming, happy we were there and wanted to share with us.
What experience and knowledge will you take back to Philadelphia with you?
Sam: During the entire trip there was an attention to detail and focus on hand made goods, which is something that is often overlooked in our society. We tend to constantly be looking forward at new technologies, and trying to figure out ways to do things faster. And while that is all well and good, art is about the process. As textile designers we should be able to take the time to enjoy what it is we are doing. In West Africa you can see the love in every piece of cloth, you can see that the weavers leave a little piece of themselves in each piece.
Mary: A better knowledge of what we use, and consideration for how our actions affect other countries. I think I will be a more conscious consumer and designer
How has this influenced your understanding of textile design, craft, or techniques, in a global sense?
Sam: We learned a lot about the negative effects that imported fabrics from China and India have had on Western Africa and how much of the hand craft was being lost. There are groups working now to revitalize the craft industry amoung the natives, teaching them the hand spinning, weaving and dyeing techniques that they all once knew prior to relying on imports.
Mary: I have a better understanding of some african cultures and want to learn more. I want to be able to incorporate some of their ideas into my work. I think I have a deeper understanding and appreciation for the craft of weaving and its history.
Sam: We traveled to West Africa, Senegal and Burkina Faso, to study textiles!
What was the focus of the trip and what were some of the stops on the itinerary?
Sam: The focus of the trip was West African textiles. In Senegal we went to the HLM textile market, Mandiack weaving cooperative and visited fashion designers Claire Kane and Mame Fagueye Ba.
In Burkina Faso we visited master weavers, traditional indigo dye pits, rug weaving studio, and a granite sculpture garden.
Mary: African Textiles. We got to visit weaving cooperatives, indigo dye village and african designers
What surprised you the most?
Sam: The heat in Burkina Faso!
Mary: Everyone was so welcoming, happy we were there and wanted to share with us.
What experience and knowledge will you take back to Philadelphia with you?
Sam: During the entire trip there was an attention to detail and focus on hand made goods, which is something that is often overlooked in our society. We tend to constantly be looking forward at new technologies, and trying to figure out ways to do things faster. And while that is all well and good, art is about the process. As textile designers we should be able to take the time to enjoy what it is we are doing. In West Africa you can see the love in every piece of cloth, you can see that the weavers leave a little piece of themselves in each piece.
Mary: A better knowledge of what we use, and consideration for how our actions affect other countries. I think I will be a more conscious consumer and designer
How has this influenced your understanding of textile design, craft, or techniques, in a global sense?
Sam: We learned a lot about the negative effects that imported fabrics from China and India have had on Western Africa and how much of the hand craft was being lost. There are groups working now to revitalize the craft industry amoung the natives, teaching them the hand spinning, weaving and dyeing techniques that they all once knew prior to relying on imports.
Mary: I have a better understanding of some african cultures and want to learn more. I want to be able to incorporate some of their ideas into my work. I think I have a deeper understanding and appreciation for the craft of weaving and its history.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Digital Surface Imaging & Printing for Textiles Workshop
So excited to announce our Digital Surface Imagine and Printing for Textiles Workshop for professionals and curious individuals! Applications can be downloaded here.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Saturday, February 1, 2014
New York Times documents beautiful local textile mills.
New York Times documents beautiful local textile mills. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/magazine/fruits-of-the-loom.html?_r=3
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
CHAD Visits Philadelphia University
The Charter High School for Architecture and Design visits Philadelphia University to learn about fashion and textile design. Here the students talk with Marcia about jacquard weaving and our onsite looms.
Sharing Textiles with Local High Schools
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| Photo Credit: David Love, Germantown Academy |
Last semester we made a visit to the art classes of Germantown Academy, an enormously creative and nurturing PreK-12 private school in Fort Washington, PA. Erin ('12) is pictured here speaking with art students about her experience, process, portfolio, and future pathways with textile design.
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| Photo Credit: David Love, Germantown Academy |
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
The Design Center at Philadelphia University teams up with Art In The Age
The Design Center at Philadelphia University teams up with Art In The Age to create a small run apparel collection with prints inspired from our historical textile archive. These designer pieces show off Philadelphia's rich history in domestic textiles and display quality design at its finest!
Check out the full story here!
See the whole collection when it debuts this Friday at the Art In The Age store at 116 N. 3rd Street from 6-9pm.
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