International Folk Art Market 2024
This year, 11- 14 July the International Folk Art Market (IFAM) celebrates its 20th anniversary in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Of the market’s 167 global artists who juried into this summer’s market, 81 identify under the textile category-- by far the largest represented category. Subcategories under the textile category include apparel, textiles for the home, and rugs.
Image: Mbili Fashion batik textile. Image above: IFAM textile artist, Somporn Intaraprayong, Thailand IFAM2023 © GabriellaMarks.
Mbili Fashion: Lagos, Nigeria
@mbilifashion
Ifeoma Nnewuihe is the visionary behind Mbili Fashion which is innovating traditional Nigerian adire batik textiles. Her process begins with creating digital designs, shared with textile artists who then contribute to the fabric-making process. The creation of each fabric, through batik wax resist dyeing known as adire, spans ten days to three weeks, ensuring meticulous hand-drawn details, colour saturation, air-drying, and revisions. Read more about the History of African Wax Print, here.
Image: Anitha N blanket.
Anitha N - Siddi Kavand: India
textiles for the home
@anithanreddy
In the villages of Uttara Kannada, Dharwad, and Haveri districts the stories of nomadic communities are stitched into colourful tapestries. Multi-coloured abstract quilts known as “kavands” originated in the Siddi community. These quilts are hand-stitched from layers of old clothes and frayed saree scraps and are both functional and sentimental. Used as mattresses in summer and light blankets during the monsoon season and winter, the kavands embody sustainability and slow fashion principles.
Image: Yuma Taru robe.
Yuma Taru Iihan Studio: Taiwan
Yuma Taru is on a mission to revitalise traditional Atayal weaving. She was born in Ilyung Penux, Da’an River, in the mountains of central Taiwan. Taru has brought the Indigenous Atayal dyeing and weaving craft back from the brink of erasure. At the age of 29, Taru initiated a comprehensive 50-year reconstruction plan, broken down into decade-long stages to revive the Atayal Tribe’s diminished cultural, economic, and educational traditions. Currently, in the fourth decade of her plan, a circular economy project harnessing ramie plants is underway involving men in weaving activities to boost the Tribe’s economy. Looking forward, the fifth decade aims to cultivate individuals facilitating international exchanges for a better global future.
For a complete list of the 2024 folk artists, please visit:
folkartmarket.org/2024-ifam-artist-list
Image: Mbili Fashion batik textile. Image above: IFAM textile artist, Somporn Intaraprayong, Thailand IFAM2023 © GabriellaMarks.
Mbili Fashion: Lagos, Nigeria
@mbilifashion
Ifeoma Nnewuihe is the visionary behind Mbili Fashion which is innovating traditional Nigerian adire batik textiles. Her process begins with creating digital designs, shared with textile artists who then contribute to the fabric-making process. The creation of each fabric, through batik wax resist dyeing known as adire, spans ten days to three weeks, ensuring meticulous hand-drawn details, colour saturation, air-drying, and revisions. Read more about the History of African Wax Print, here.
Image: Anitha N blanket.
Anitha N - Siddi Kavand: India
textiles for the home
@anithanreddy
In the villages of Uttara Kannada, Dharwad, and Haveri districts the stories of nomadic communities are stitched into colourful tapestries. Multi-coloured abstract quilts known as “kavands” originated in the Siddi community. These quilts are hand-stitched from layers of old clothes and frayed saree scraps and are both functional and sentimental. Used as mattresses in summer and light blankets during the monsoon season and winter, the kavands embody sustainability and slow fashion principles.
Image: Yuma Taru robe.
Yuma Taru Iihan Studio: Taiwan
Yuma Taru is on a mission to revitalise traditional Atayal weaving. She was born in Ilyung Penux, Da’an River, in the mountains of central Taiwan. Taru has brought the Indigenous Atayal dyeing and weaving craft back from the brink of erasure. At the age of 29, Taru initiated a comprehensive 50-year reconstruction plan, broken down into decade-long stages to revive the Atayal Tribe’s diminished cultural, economic, and educational traditions. Currently, in the fourth decade of her plan, a circular economy project harnessing ramie plants is underway involving men in weaving activities to boost the Tribe’s economy. Looking forward, the fifth decade aims to cultivate individuals facilitating international exchanges for a better global future.
For a complete list of the 2024 folk artists, please visit:
folkartmarket.org/2024-ifam-artist-list