Come forth crafty citizens to City of Craft 2008 - an innovative craft culture event where craft shoppers & makers come together to celebrate the handmade spirit. No ordinary craft fair, City of Craft 2008 features free workshops, craft-based installations, and outreach by community arts groups & studios, all alongside a curated craft fair of modern handmade goods.
Details:
WHAT: City of Craft 2008
WHO: 50+ craft vendors, community groups, installation artists, workshop leaders & satellite participants
WHEN: Saturday December 13, 2008, noon-8pm
WHERE: Theatre Centre, located at 1087 Queen Street West at Dovercourt
Some show highlights to get you excited:
*FREE STUFF ALERT: the first one hundred visitors will receive swag bags printed by Studio XIX filled with coupons for the show, plus fantastic goodies from indie publications and local & international craft artists.
*AWESOME STUFF ALERT: Check out amazing handmade goods on offer by more than 40 talented makers: http://cityofcraft.com/2008/
*NEIGHBOURHOOD CRAFT CRAWL: City of Craft takes to the streets with crafty programming in local businesses and galleries. (Those of you with a sweet tooth should not miss out on cupcake decorating & knitting activities at the Knit Café.)
*CRAFTY-COOL INSTALLATIONS: Stop by the window of League of Lovers and Thieves to check out Tara Bursey's installation of hundreds or origami shoes made with tea bags, or have a Victorian silhouette portrait taken by Danijela Photography, featuring a papercut frame by artist Li Sui. Get lost in a landscape of fibre, photography and sound by Lynn Harrigan, Scott M2 and dreamSTATE.
*MAKE YOUR OWN HANDMADE GIFTS (FREE!): Workshops include origami star books by the Paper Place, fabric covered magnet sets by The Workroom, recycled felt ornaments by Mr. Sköna, and screen printed cards by Kid Icarus.
*AFTERNOON TEA: Eat treats from Yummy Stuff & sip tea by Tealish between 2-4pm
So there you have it, there is really no better place to be on December 13th, 2008.
Visit the show website at http://cityofcraft.com/2008/
RENT YOUR REALITY, LOAN YOUR LIFE
BE PART OF
Iris Häussler: Honest Threads
January 22 to March 8, 2009
Curated by Mona Filip
Presented at Honest Ed’s by the Koffler Gallery
581
Deadline for contributions: December 19, 2008
The Project
In a crossover between visual art, literature, and theatre,
Honest Threads will display garments and the memories they carry. Lent by Torontonians, each item holds a personal story revealing a glimpse of the many threads that weave our identity over time. Visitors will be able to borrow the garments and wear them for a few days, experiencing both literally and psychologically what it is like to “walk in someone else’s shoes.” At the same time, they will add new layers to the clothes’ history. Trading experiences on both tactile and narrative levels will enrich our collective perception of the place we call home. As pieces of a vast puzzle, these individual stories will render a fragmentary portrait of the city, attesting to its complex history.
The Place
With its overload of celebrity photographs and eccentric sales items, Honest Ed’s is no ordinary store but a museum in itself, blurring the boundaries between commercial, public and exhibition spaces. The place equally attests to the inspiring story of its founder, Ed Mirvish, the son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe and
And You
This is your opportunity to bring out the cherished jacket your father wore on his clandestine journey across the ocean, the sari you inherited from your grandmother, or the shirt that made you look cool in your high-school band. We would also like to include in the display a photograph of you or the original owner wearing the garment. Share your stories and lend your unique voice to a project that brings together the many faces of
About the Artist
Iris Häussler was born in
One of the fastest growing and contested sites of contemporary culture is the DIY movement. Broadly speaking, DIY is a socio-political stance enacted through the processes of creating. In reaction to multi-national corporations and modern industrial society’s basis in mass-production, DIY stresses the importance of thinking globally and making locally. At the same time, each community practicing DIY has its own approach, and consuming less as a political statement is often found in tandem with aesthetic concerns.
There is no common definition for DIY, and as it becomes more mainstream, the act of distinguishing a particular mode of making according to “do it yourself”, is an issue that continues to be raised. Hosting a DIY exhibition in partnership between the OCC and Toronto Craft Alert is an attempt to bring so-called ‘fine craft’ into dialogue with DIY, and explore the ways in which they intersect and diverge.
BASIC SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
See the Call for entry for more details
Ladyfest 2008 Workshop Venue:
St. Stephen's In-the Fields Church
103 Bellevue Avenue at College Street
North of Kensington Market
Toronto
From Ladyfest Toronto's website:
"Ladyfest Toronto is a four-day arts, culture and music festival. We are a non-profit, grassroots, do-it-yourself collective who seek to promote urban feminism. We work from a framework that is pro-feminist, trans-inclusive, pro-diversity and anti-oppressive. We seek to build community among Toronto's feminist businesses, artists, activists and academic community. We believe that art is a powerful form of resistance and hope to incite dialogue about contemporary feminist issues in our city. We will be providing a venue for women to express themselves and showcase their work free of sexism, classism, racism, and homophobia; as well as other forms of oppression.
We believe that politics can be fun and hope to facilitate political action and create tools for feminist networking at our annual event. We will proudly showcase the talent and actions of both local and international women. Ultimately, we hope Ladyfest Toronoto inspires women everywhere to organize themselves and create similar spaces that allow women's creative works to be seen and heard, as other Ladyfests have for us."
Do you consider yourself engaged in "zine culture?" I know you have contributed to at least a few zines...what was the extent of your involvement with zines and zine-making in the past? Have you done any self-publishing recently?
I do feel engaged even if I don't have a table at Canzine every year. I used to do zines to go with my art shows as early as 1986 and I just did one for my last solo show The Virtuous at Spin Gallery (with a screen printed cover by Michael Comeau) in 2007. In the past I contributed to Babble, Trash Compactor, Fabulous Babes, The Social Drinker, Heavy Girl Press, Maow Maow. More recently, I’ve contributed to Paper Rodeo, Regal Beast, Milk and
What sorts of things inspire your work?
Film (Zhang Yimou, Hayao Miyazaki), comics (Idiotland, Kramer's Ergot, Rudy), comediennes (Sarah Silverman, Amy Sedaris) and travel, when I can afford it. And so much more, like crappily painted store signage and thrift store "art".
If I had to describe the girls/women you draw in one word, it would probably be POWERFUL. Is it (or was it ever) your intention to depict "empowered" women?
It's definitely my intention but it was born out of a subconscious compulsion. I realized over the years I was trying to empower myself and these images of women and girls were all aspects of myself. The work is really autobiographical and definitely feminist.
What are your thoughts on the idea of art-making (or zine-making for that matter) as a tool for self-empowerment? Or the empowerment of others?
Art-making is empowering all-round. And the fact that you can create a zine with little money and send it out and across the world is huge. It's great that the work can be out in the world and not languishing in an art gallery.
Do you consider your work for an adult audience exclusively? I ask because your drawings (and paintings) are so bold, inviting, and often playful. I could see children really responding to your work despite your interest in adult themes and sometimes racy subject matter...
Yes, my work is for an adult audience but its funny because a lot of illustration work I've done has been kid and tween age stuff. I guess my cartooniness and bright colours lend it to that material. More recent artwork has been a lot darker in colour and content, there's no question it's for adults. (In some of the more violent work,
Who are some of your favourite artists, local and otherwise?
I have huge ever-changing lists. Here is a teeny list (and I know I'm leaving folks out, sorry): Allyson Mitchell, Shary Boyle, Julie Voyce, Maurice Vellekoop, Michael Comeau, Marc Bell and the Psychedoolic crew, Vesna Mostovac, Lorenz Peter, GB Jones…these are all past and current zinesters. Ed Pien, Fastwurms, Casey McGlynn, Sandra Meigs. Farther away: Kara Walker, Jim Drain, Raymond Pettibon, Matthew Barney, Taiyo Matsumoto, Chiho Aoshima.
*****
For more on Fiona, check out her website.
Tuesday, August 19th. 6pm
This Ain't the Rosedale Library
86 Nassau Street, west of Augusta Avenue
Kensington Market, Toronto
AND Please join us for Zine Dream 1, an enormous zine fair which will fill the entire TRANZAC Club! The fair will feature tablers, workshops, DJs and surprises galore! The Toronto Zine Library will be taking part, opening our doors as a lounge/reading room where collective members will be present to answer questions, sell memberships, and show you around the collection!
Sunday, August 24th. 12-6pm
at the TRANZAC Club
292 Brunswick Avenue, south of Bloor
Toronto
Sunday, July 6th, 2008.
1:30pm
Toronto Zine Library at the TRANZAC
292 Brunswick Avenue
2nd Floor Rehersal Hall
Toronto, Canada
For more information, contact:
torontozinelibrary@hotmail.com
By Amy Borkwood
How many ways can you possibly manipulate Washi — through folding, gluing, dyeing, painting, cutting, printing, sewing, etc. — in order to create something absolutely new? This is what the World Washi Summit seemed to be asking of its artists throughout this one-week exhibition of Washi (the Japanese word for traditional papers, made by hand for over 1400 years, from renewable, indigenous plants). Galleries (and restaurants, retail stores, and more) all across the city dedicated their spaces to the exploration of this traditional paper, featuring new and experienced artists, all working within the medium of Washi.
The hand-making and traditional uses of Washi — and this is applicable to fine craft and handmade goods in general — have drastically reduced with the use of machines in traditionally handmade goods and materials. The purpose of the summit is to draw attention to the traditional roles of Washi, through showcasing the creative possibilities of this medium.The potentials of Washi seem limitless: at the Toronto School of Art exhibition, there was an exact replica of a newspaper, intricately hand-lettered and hand-drawn, next to an installation of origami shoes, spread along the entire gallery floor, which ended at a podium full of shakeable folded boxes (seeds and bells sounding inside). My favourite piece at this gallery was Yoko Nomura’s “Yozakura (Cherry Blossom in the Night),” which was really a study of the Washi itself: loosely layered sheets of Washi, made with Washi-petals inside the paper as well as on the floor directly in front of the piece, as if the petals had been falling slowly from within the paper over the course of the exhibition.
My boyfriend and I subwayed and trammed down to Propeller gallery, just to find that the show didn’t officially open until the next day — only to be let in for an early showing by a (wonderful) woman working in the gallery. Though the gallery wasn’t completely ready to be viewed — there were papers and rulers along the floor, notes on the walls about the placement of each piece — the work that we saw was stunning. One piece by Teri Donovan stood out: black-ink prints of houses on off-white Washi, with hand-embroidered root systems trailing from each house.
After Propeller we headed to the Ontario Craft Council gallery, where 13 artists had been working over the June 7/8 weekend to create gorgeous, innovative Washi works. Within two days, the artists collaborated or worked individually to craft mobiles, “paper cups” (glass cups overflowing with torn Washi), jewellery (a necklace made of large, egg-like sculptured Washi), multiple collages, and even a scarf knit from Washi and shredded office paper. The OCC exhibition, all crafted within the two-day deadline, is now being auctioned off to the public. Go to the OCC show if only to see the knit-paper scarf. Honestly, how is that possible?
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Original article can be found here.
World Washi Summit
Art comes alive on Japanese paper
June 7-15, 2008
What is washi? Washi is the Japanese word that refers to the traditional papers, made by hand from indigenous renewable plant fibres, which have been continuously produced and refined in
Why the
Over time, speeded up during the 20th century, most of the many traditional uses of washi have lost their relevance and the papermaking industry has been decimated. At the turn of the 19th century there were some 80,000 families making paper by hand. Today there are roughly 320 individuals who carry on the tradition.
Though the domestic use of many types of washi has been drastically reduced, the discovery of the papers and their potential by creative people around the world has given new hope for the continuance of the craft. This has inspired whole new genres of art. Because of its special qualities - great wet and dry strength, translucence, malleability and absorbency, washi is experiencing rebirth in the hands of open-minded artists everywhere who are interested in “new” materials that expand their creative expression.
Overview
The World Washi Summit will be an international gathering of Japanese papermakers who make washi, those who distribute it, artists who produce art with it, curators who exhibit it and the art-buying public who are eager to learn more about it. Scheduled for June 7-15 2008 in
For more specific information, please visit the official World Washi Summit website:
http://www.worldwashisummit.com/index.html
