Saturday 13, 20 and 27 September, 10 - 5 pm: Open Studio, Demonstration and Tour, A Carnival of Textiles with Julieta Gimpel of Mandinga Arts

Julieta Studio: 97 Atkins Road, London SW12 0AL
Mandinga Arts: Space Studios, Haymerle Road, Peckham, SE15 6SD

Immerse yourself in a riot of colour, texture, and creativity as textile maestro Julieta Gimpel throws open the doors of her vibrant studios. With over 40 years of boundary-pushing work spanning fashion, carnival costume, and mixed-media installation, Julieta invites you to witness the magic of fabric alchemy up close. Expect an explosion of colour and movement, where the spirit of carnival meets cutting-edge textile innovation.

In the morning, enjoy live demonstrations of heat press wizardry featuring transfer dyes, foiling, folding, and textural relief effects. Discover how these playful, versatile techniques can be used in any setting, from your kitchen table to a pro-level studio.

Feel the rhythm of creativity as Julieta shares her secrets for layering heat press techniques with other textile processes, creating stunning fabrics that dance with light and energy. With music filling the air and materials flowing like confetti, this is not just a demo - it’s a celebration of textile artistry!

And during the afternoon, travel to Mandinga Arts in Peckham. Expect surprises at every turn as you visit a treasure trove of theatrical inspiration, where you’ll get a rare chance to explore, handle, and even try on Julieta's legendary hand made costumes. Whether you’re into fashion, carnival design, or mixed media textiles, this event will fill you with ideas and a renewed creative spark.

Bring your cameras, sketchbooks, and notebooks - this is your chance to soak up decades of creative knowledge and capture the vibrancy of a true textile trailblazer. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or a curious newcomer, you’ll leave with your head full of ideas and your heart ready to stitch a little more magic into the world.

Julieta Gimpel is a Colombian-born artist whose current work explores folded and stitched Shibori techniques. She combines natural and synthetic fibres with heat-set and steam-fixed dyes, using stencils, objects and stitch to create layered surfaces that investigate texture, volume and colour. She draws connections between the Japanese dyeing method of Shibori and ancient resist-dye practices found in pre-Columbian Chile, Peru and Mexico.

Originally trained as a painter and printmaker, Gimpel exhibited regularly at the October Gallery in London and in galleries across the UK and internationally. She later co-founded Mandinga Arts, an organisation focused on carnival and outdoor performance, where she designed and produced costumes for events and festivals around the world.

Please Note: This is a free event, however participants will need to organise their travel between Julieta's studio in Clapham to Mandinga Arts in Peckham in the afternoon. We suggest taking a shared Uber, and bringing a packed lunch to eat on the way. 

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