First Nations and Inuit creators have been making fibre and textile works since long before settlers came to this land. Here we feature works by contemporary Indigenous fibre, textile and bead artists, and explorations of opportunities to respectfully learn.
We at Digits & Threads intend for this area of our magazine to continually grow, and we encourage Indigenous artists and writers to contact us about your work or with feature proposals.
Beaded Hawaiian Medallion, designed and created by Malinda Gray as a gift from Trent University to Manulani Meyer.
Anishinaabe/French Métis fashion designer Anne Mulaire is part of an innovative movement of clothiers committed to building a slow, circular Canadian fashion industry. Inspired by teachings passed down through seven generations of her family, she creates garments that reflect her deeply held family and personal beliefs.
Read More
[For Armchair & Studio Members] Fiona Ellis interviews Métis artists Nathalie Bertin and Lisa Shepherd about the Breathe Collective and their effort to inspire artists in a difficult time. The initiative resulted in a collection of eighty-five decorated and decorative face masks, created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read More
[Open Access] An in-depth review of textile artist Francine McCabe’s new book, “Fleece and Fibre: Textile Producers of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.”
Read More
[For Armchair & Studio Members] Profile of textile artist and photographer Francine McCabe, author of a new book about textile Producers of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.
Read More
[For Armchair & Studio Members] Profile of Beatrice Deer, award-winning singer-songwriter, composer, simultaneous interpreter, educator, healer, activist, and textile artist. Deer created the outfit worn by the Right Honorable Mary Simon, Canada’s Governor General, to the installation of King Charles the III and her Majesty the Queen Consort on May 21, 2023.
Read More
[For Armchair & Studio Members] From the Coast Salish wool dog—”ignited by Indigenous ingenuity and extinguished by European colonization”—to WWII-era wool shortages, the remarkable and not well known history of dogs’ wool.
Read More
A round-up of fibre and textile arts and crafts in Canada in August, 2022. Online photo galleries of exhibitions from earlier this year, late-summer events to visit around the country, and news of the Great Canadian Wool-A-Long, including links to vendors, discount codes and free presentations.
Read More
[Open Access] Métis artist Krista Leddy became famous for her beaded portrait of Louis Riel, published by Canadian Geographic Magazine in 2019. Her work is considered to be controversial by some, and she is thoughtful about the conflicts inherent in honouring tradition while allowing artists to interpret that tradition in their own modern way.
Read More