Thursday 10 September, 10.30-12 p.m.: Book Launch and Talk, The Language of Line in Handwoven Tapestry with Micala Sidore

Museum of the Home, 136 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8EA, United Kingdom

Micala Sidore is native of Manchester, New Hampshire, and earned both her BA in literature, 1974, and her MFA in writing and translation,1978, at Goddard College in Vermont. She completed her first tapestry in 1979.

Between 1984 and 1987, and again in 2002, she interned at the Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins in Paris, obtaining a solid foundation in the techniques and aesthetics of traditional French tapestry. In 1988, at their request, Micala co-represented the studios at the International Tapestry Symposium in Melbourne, Australia. After the visit to Melbourne, Micala established the Hawley Street Tapestry Studio in Northampton, MA.

There she works out her cartoons, weaves tapestries and gives workshops. The studio also serves as a resource centre with a rich collection of books, slides, magazines, postcards and catalogues for visitors and students who wish to browse. She also developed the TraveLoom®, a patented portable tapestry frame loom. Micala has continued to take workshops from others in her field, including two monthlong residencies at a weaving centre in Kerala, India, in both 2006 and 2007.

She speaks four languages and travels extensively, giving talks and workshops. She has written more than 45 articles for magazines in several countries.

She has contacts and correspondence with many weavers throughout the world and has written about a number of them. She has also drawn on their help and work to put together her two books, The Art is the Cloth (2020) and Tapestry Talking (2026).

Event Description
This talk introduces Micala's new book, Tapestry Talking. It offers strategies and inspiration for tapestry weavers looking to expand their practice, while also welcoming newcomers into the world of tapestry — what it is, and what it might become.

The talk invites the audience to look closely at line. Lines — the horizontal weft interlacing with the vertical warp — form the most basic element of any woven cloth. Tapestry, a specialised kind of cloth, reveals an extraordinary range of possibilities in the use of line. Once these possibilities are unpicked, the effects they can achieve seem almost endless.

A knowledgeable tapestry weaver can make a line curve; a skilled one can organise lines to echo any other visual medium.

Like the book, this talk offers a basic grammar of weaving.

A handout will list the pieces shown, their makers, and their widely dispersed countries of origin.

Event Cancellation Policy
All bookings are non-refundable. However, if you let us know that you are unable to attend an event you have booked at least two weeks before the event, we will open up your place. If we find another participant, you will be offered a credit note.

Visit Micala Sidore's Website