A round-up of goings-on in fibre and textile arts and crafts across Canada.
The Royal Ontario Museum will be launching a new exhibition from its permanent collection, “highlighting some of the most visually intoxicating examples of artistry, community, and sustainability made in Canada: quilts.”
Quilts: Made in Canada opens June 29, 2024 and is free with general admission. Photo from the ROM website.
The Saskatchewan Craft Council presents Queer Newfoundland Hockey League, a solo exhibition by Lucas Morneau (they/he). “Queer Newfoundland Hockey League (QNHL) is a fictional hockey league made up of 14 teams, presented through crocheted and rug hooked hockey jerseys, queered hockey cards, and crocheted goalie masks.” Through July 6, 2024. (Image from the SCC website.)
Read more about Morneau and the QNHL in Digits & Threads.
Screening at the Vancouver International Film Festival on June 11, 12 and 13, A Bullet Pulling Thread: “In January 2020, in Lytton, BC, a man named Barry Shantz was shot dead by police, as he intended. The incident raises troubling questions about response protocols (why wasn’t a mental health worker dispatched to a stand-off which lasted several hours, for example?), and about institutional accountability. But Ian Daffern’s film gives us much more than this. It is a compassionate portrait of Barry, an imperfect man, a former drug dealer, who nevertheless turned his life around and became an advocate for fellow prisoners and for the homeless, as related by his sister, Marilyn, whose own life followed a very different path. In response to the tragedy, Marilyn creates a series of art quilts called Kairos – a Greek word which means ‘an opportune time for action’. A Bullet Pulling Thread opens up several pathways we might usefully follow.”
The Manitoba Craft Council presents “_at the end of a line, a circle,” by Kristin Nelson, featuring “traditional craft processes like knitting and net-making paired with non-traditional materials to playfully subvert a range of established binaries.” Through June 28, 2024.
There’s a new wool mill in Canada. Austin Woollen Mill launched this spring in Manitoba.
Craft Ontario is also seeking proposals for solo and two-person exhibitions to take place in the Craft Ontario Gallery, 1106 Queen St West, Toronto, in the 2025 calendar year.
Upcoming Fairs & Festivals
This is not a comprehensive list. Please submit fairs and other fibre/textile events to the D&T Community Calendar.
- Biggar Fibre Fair: June 8, 2024. Biggar, SK.
- Kawartha Yarn & Fibre Festival: June 8, 2024. Fenelon Falls, ON.
- Bazaart 2024: Saturday, June 15, 2024. Regina, SK.
Digits & Threads Is a Member-Supported Independent Online Magazine
The articles, tutorials and patterns we publish about Canadian fibre and textile arts, crafts and industry are made possible by our members.
Featured image credit Ave Calvar on Unsplash+.
