Skip to content

WELCOME TO OUR STORE

SUPPORT OUR WORK

  • HOME
  • MAGAZINE
    • CURRENT ISSUE
    • BACK ISSUES
    • FIND SELVEDGE
    • ORDER FAQS
    • CONTACT US
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • FOR YOURSELF
    • FOR SOMEONE ELSE
    • FOR AN INSTITUTION
    • FOR STUDENTS
    • SUBSCRIBER ACCESS
    • SUBSCRIBER FAQS
    • CONTACT US
  • SHOP
    • SELVEDGE GOODS
    • ARTISAN GOODS
    • MAGAZINES
    • WORKSHOPS
    • TALKS
    • MEET THE MAKER
    • BOOKS
    • ORDER FAQs
    • CONTACT US
  • LEARN
    • BOOK A WORKSHOP
    • BOOK A TALK
    • LISTEN TO A TALK
    • MEET THE MAKER
    • TRAVEL WITH US
    • EVENT FAQS
    • CONTACT US
  • ARTISANS
    • SHOP
      • ALL
      • CLOTHING
      • INTERIORS
      • ACCESSORIES
      • TOYS
    • EXPLORE
    • ACCESS TALKS
    • WATCH SLOW TV
    • LISTEN TO PLAYLIST
    • CONTACT US
  • COMMUNITY
    • READ OUR BLOG
    • JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
    • SLOW TV
    • LISTEN TO A PODCAST
    • VISIT A TEXTILE COLLECTION
    • SEE AN EXHIBITION
    • ENTER A PRIZE DRAW
    • MAKE A PROJECT
    • CONTACT US
  • COLLABORATE
    • ADVERTISE WITH US
    • WORK WITH US
    • WRITE FOR US
    • WRITE FOR THE BLOG
    • BECOME A STOCKIST
    • CONTACT US
    • SEE ARTISAN INFO
  • STORY
    • READ OUR STORY
    • GET TO KNOW US
    • READ ABOUT US
    • CONTACT US
Log in
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
Selvedge Magazine
  • HOME
  • MAGAZINE
    • CURRENT ISSUE
    • BACK ISSUES
    • FIND SELVEDGE
    • ORDER FAQS
    • CONTACT US
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • FOR YOURSELF
    • FOR SOMEONE ELSE
    • FOR AN INSTITUTION
    • FOR STUDENTS
    • SUBSCRIBER ACCESS
    • SUBSCRIBER FAQS
    • CONTACT US
  • SHOP
    • SELVEDGE GOODS
    • ARTISAN GOODS
    • MAGAZINES
    • WORKSHOPS
    • TALKS
    • MEET THE MAKER
    • BOOKS
    • ORDER FAQs
    • CONTACT US
  • LEARN
    • BOOK A WORKSHOP
    • BOOK A TALK
    • LISTEN TO A TALK
    • MEET THE MAKER
    • TRAVEL WITH US
    • EVENT FAQS
    • CONTACT US
  • ARTISANS
    • SHOP
      • ALL
      • CLOTHING
      • INTERIORS
      • ACCESSORIES
      • TOYS
    • EXPLORE
    • ACCESS TALKS
    • WATCH SLOW TV
    • LISTEN TO PLAYLIST
    • CONTACT US
  • COMMUNITY
    • READ OUR BLOG
    • JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
    • SLOW TV
    • LISTEN TO A PODCAST
    • VISIT A TEXTILE COLLECTION
    • SEE AN EXHIBITION
    • ENTER A PRIZE DRAW
    • MAKE A PROJECT
    • CONTACT US
  • COLLABORATE
    • ADVERTISE WITH US
    • WORK WITH US
    • WRITE FOR US
    • WRITE FOR THE BLOG
    • BECOME A STOCKIST
    • CONTACT US
    • SEE ARTISAN INFO
  • STORY
    • READ OUR STORY
    • GET TO KNOW US
    • READ ABOUT US
    • CONTACT US
Log in Cart

Item added to your cart

Access Denied
IMPORTANT! If you’re a store owner, please make sure you have Customer accounts enabled in your Store Admin, as you have customer based locks set up with EasyLockdown app. Enable Customer Accounts
Soundweaving

Soundweaving

June 20, 2020
Share

Image: (c) Fejér János.

What does the music of embroidery sound like? An unusual question perhaps, but one that Hungarian designer Zsanett Szirmay seeks to explore in Soundweaving: an experimental interdisciplinary project that translates traditional Eastern European folk embroideries into gentle, tinkling melodies. With the help of composer Bálint Tárkány-Kovács, Szirmay treats each cross-stitch like a musical note, using embroidered shirts and pillows from the Transylvanian Bukovina, Kalotaszeg and Hungary as a basis for the patterns. By translating motifs such as tulips, pomegranates and birds onto punch cards and then running these cards through a hand-wound music box, Szirmay unlocks the latent music hidden within the textiles and brings the visual world to life through audio.

Image: (c) Sándor Fövényi.

Soundweaving transports traditional textile embroidery into an entirely new dimension, where different planes of communication stimulate multiple senses whilst blending the genres of folk art, textile design and music. Szirmay originally transcribed eleven embroideries which can be heard on the Soundweaving website. The result is a collection of ethereal, otherworldly melodies; it is almost as if the embroideries are singing.

“My inspiration came from the punch cards in weavers’ workshops. Early computers also used such punch cards, with the information coded in such formats. I thought back to my youth, seeing the music boxes in fairs and managed to connect the two concepts. Why not make pretty motifs on the punch cards? I was previously a member of a Hungarian folk dancing group, during which time I wore embroidered clothes. We often performed in villages, where I collected cross stitch patterns from pillowcases, tablecloths, shirts. Later on, I was able to transform these pattern onto the punch cards.”

Szirmay’s subsequent Soundweaving works include Japanese and Middle Eastern editions, as well as a Pergamon edition for Berlin’s Pergamon Museum. For more information visit soundweaving.hu

---

Guest blog post by Safiya Juma. Safiya is a freelance copywriter and long-time student of yoga, meditation and the healing arts. While studying textiles as an adult, Safiya discovered that her British grandmother sewed peace quilts for church whilst her Indian grandfather stitched scripture into the selvedge of East African khanga cloth. Safiya’s own textiles practise includes sacred geometry quilts and embroidered words and images she receives whilst meditating or walking in nature.

We welcome guest blog post submissions from everyone – check our guidelines for more information.

Back to blog

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.

Invalid password
Enter

Quick links

  • SEARCH
  • ABOUT US
  • T&Cs
  • FAQs

Subscribe to our newsletter by entering your email address below. "I just wanted to say how much I admire your informative and inspirational newsletters - I always look forward to them!" Tricia, San Rafael, USA

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
Payment methods
  • American Express
  • Diners Club
  • Discover
  • Maestro
  • Mastercard
  • Visa
© 2023, Selvedge Magazine Powered by Shopify
  • Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.