PRAIRIE INTERLACE: Weaving, Modernisms & the Expanded Frame, 1960–2000, Nickle Galleries, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
I have travelled across Canada many times and love the drive through the Prairie provinces where the sky is so immense you can see changes in the weather from many kilometres away. Violets, pinks, oranges, soft blues, and greys transition into the beiges, golds, browns and ochre of the land. The landscape is subtle, expansive and full of texture. Years ago when I was studying Geography, I learned about a holistic approach to observing and studying the environment. This was my introduction to the notion of complex systems understanding that a whole is the sum of its parts, that every part must be considered in relation to the others and that the parts functioning together constitute the behaviour of the whole. This exhibition is an extraordinary example of a weaving community whole and it's coming into being. The community developed across a vast space and through a time when local weavers and newcomers who had settled in the Prairies shared their knowledge and artistry, working in collectives, schools, and guilds. Home may be where you come from but it is also where you make it within a community you choose blending cultures, experiences, and ideas.
Want to read more of this article?
We are proud to be a subscriber-funded publication with members in 185 countries. We know our readership is passionate about textiles, so we invite you to help us preserve and promote the stories, memories, and histories that fabric holds. Your support allows us to publish our magazine, and also ‘what's on’ information, and subscription interviews, reviews, and long-read articles in our online blog.
