CONTENTS

INDULGE textiles to buy, collect or simply admire 78 SHOP TALK Jo Pott Mercers by Jane Audas, photographs by Stephen Heaton 96 SWATCH Fabourite Fabric no52 Sacred Lotus Silk by Sarah Jane Downing, illustrated by Katrin Coetzer GLOBAL textiles from around the world 72 WEAVERS OF THE CLOUDS Textile hunting in Peru by Hilary Simon, photographs by Max Milligan 30 COLOURFUL CREATION Carme Genesis at L’ex chiesa dei Santi Filippo e Giacomo, Bresica, Italy by Laura Heeks 64 RED CARPET TREATMENT The work of Märta Måås-Fjetterström by Jeffrey Head ANECDOTE textiles that touch our lives 14 CALLING ALL SPINNERS Saints in stitch by Sarah Jane Downing, illustrations by Emmanuel Pierre 18 SEE YOU IN CHURCH The Broderers of St Paul’s Cathedral by Patricia Cleveland-Peck, photographs by Claudia Brooks 21HABIT-FORMING Matisse’s vestments for the Dominican Chapel of the Rosary at Vence by Judith Mottram 26SPINNING A YARN Margaret Atwood’s tales of textiles by Marte Storbråten Ytterbøe, illustrated by Lauren DiCioccio photograph by Pari Dukavic 34 OVER THE RAINBOW The art of Chiachio & Giannone by Susan T. Avila 58 BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL Dom Robert’s woven prayers by Sophie Guérin Gasc ATTIRE critical reporting of fashion trends 10 HEAVEN SENT A-muse-ing designs for goddess gowns by Kate Cavendish 38CHILDS PLAY The Egyptian children’s tapestries by Jeri Lynn Chandler. INDUSTRY from craft to commerce 42 THE TALK OF THE TWEED The sheep, the marsh and the Medieval churches in Kent by Ann Martin, photographs by Bruce Hemming 54PUPPET SHOW Susie Vickery’s toy boy by Liz Hoggard COHABIT stunning interiors beautifully photographed 68 AT LIBERTY Liberty in Sweden: Tjolöholm Castle by Jessica Hemmings

OVER THE RAINBOW The art of Chiachio & Giannone

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Left; Familia en la Fontana di Trevi, 2012, Hand embroidery with cotton thread on fabric, 110 x170cm

Right; Picos Gemelos, 2017, Handmade embroidery with cotton and metallic threads, applique and pompoms on blanket, 160 x 215cm

Chiachio & Giannone refer to themselves as ‘one artist with two heads and four hands.’ Their textile paintings challenge the heteronormative codes in society, especially the concept of family, while simultaneously delighting the viewer with humor, colour, and exquisite handwork. In 2003, the painters, Leo Chiachio and Daniel Giannone, began a collaborative partnership in life and work in their home city of Buenos Aires. At that time the model Argentine family did not include two gay men and a dog. It wasn’t until 2010 that Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalise same sex marriage, and Chiachio & Giannone addressed the issue by embroidering a series of family portraits, placing themselves and their beloved dog, Pioline, within a series of tableaux. They represent themselves as ‘others’ masking (or possibly revealing) their true selves in a composition reminiscent of traditional family portraits. The amusing and highly detailed pictures depict Leo and Daniel as various characters including Guarani Indians, geishas, Chinese babies, Day of the Dead skeletons, and even animals as they broaden the discourse on identity and family. Discarding the notion that family is a group related by blood or created through marriage between a man and a woman, Chiachio & Giannone expand the concept by paying homage to brethren LGBTQ+ who metaphorically share their DNA as well as other artists who typically work outside the classic white heterosexual

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CHILDS PLAY The Egyptian children’s tapestries

In 1952 Harrania, a small Coptic village on the road between Cairo and the great pyramids was indistinguishable from any other rural village along the Nile. That was before a remarkable man established a small tapestry studio in the village and taught a group of young children to weave. No one but Ramses Wissa Wassef, the freethinking architect and educator who set the simple social experiment in motion, imagined where the first group of students would take the ancient tradition – and art – of weaving. But today the result of his vision is clear: a unique collection of tapestries, exhibited and collected worldwide, that express the richness of Egyptian village life. Wissa

Wassef opened the Harrania studio on the premise that all of us are born with innate creative instinct that is suppressed by conformist and abstract educational systems. He believed that ‘every human being was born an artist but that their gift could be brought out only if artistic creation was encouraged by the practicing of a craft from early childhood.’ In his book, Woven by Hand, Wissa Wassef wrote, ‘It would be very hard to neutralise the various influences—not just the gadgets, magazines, films and so on, that encroach on so much of a child’s emotional life, but above all the educational system of today, which is caught up in a set of all-powerful

routines...It pushes children towards a mindless universal conformism.’ Wissa Wassef knew very little about weaving tapestries when the experiment began but believed the craft provided the right balance of manual work and artistic creation. ‘I saw it as a way of starting the children off on an activity that involved a union of body and soul. Drawing, painting and modelling are not craftsman’s trades, while mosaic work, ceramics, wood, stone and metalwork do not present the same balance between art and craft. I felt that tapestry making would provide the happy medium for the experiment I was planning.’

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colour. To see it, brings to mind the quote from the painter Harold Speed, ‘For colour is one of the most rapturous truths that can be revealed to man’. Quintessenz expand; ‘Space, form and colour are the key ingredients – we create blank forms that we then use as the ground for our colours.’ They continue; ‘Our mural works or installations are always inspired by their environment. 95% of our installations are site specific, that means we see and find the space before the work is created. So we scan the information, it’s architectural properties. Based on this research our creative process starts, and goes on until we find the right shape, volume and colour.’ Quintessenz believe that bringing art and colour into new places can change that environment into something more positive. Perhaps then the work could be said to lift people’s perceptions of spaces that might ordinarily not move them emotionally or spiritually? Quintessenz create art that brings pause to our busy lives, bringing colour into monochrome cities, and also reminds us of the difference it makes to see an artwork in real life. This real experience, the version of the world that we can take back when we put down our screens, is close to sacred today. As Quintessence explain; ‘Everyone can be an artist. Also in daily life – even in things like cooking. It helps us get away from learned rules and it brings us to new paths. Creation is one of the highest goods we have in our world – and yes – it is sacred.’ Laura Heeks

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THE TALK OF THE TWEED The sheep, the marsh and the Medieval churches in Kent

Tweed can be seen as a woven embodiment of the British landscape. The familiar herringbone pattern shown in many colours, echoing wild, barren terrain, and windswept coastline. So it’s no surprise that another homegrown tweed has emerged from our shores, but perhaps the origins of this particular fabric, the hedgerows of southeast England, are unexpected. In Romney Marsh, Kent, sheep have grazed the land for hundreds of years. Here, Romney wool is being spun into two-ply worsted yarns to produce Romney Tweed, an attractive new cloth for traditional apparel. Pat Alston, the visionary behind Romney Tweed, is on a mission to improve prospects on the Marsh since the decommissioning of two power stations at Dungeness, and a subsequent rise in unemployment in the area. Established as a social enterprise, with the aim of using Romney wool to make tweed cloth, Romney Tweed exists with a view to help young people (particularly those aged between 18 and 24) acquire skills and jobs. The area has a rich sheep farming tradition, and a large sheep population, so when a local councillor questioned why there wasn’t a mill in Romney Marsh, Pat had a brainwave - to create a Romney Marsh tweed, using the wool from Romney sheep. At the time local farmers were sending wool elsewhere to be cleaned, spun and woven. When a local spinner decided to show what could be made from Romney wool in 2011, the journey was well underway.

Aside from expected financial limitations, Pat’s biggest challenge was to prove that Romney wool could be used for apparel. She identified there was space and demand in the market for an English tweed brand but traditionally Romney wool had been used for carpets, and to create a quality, soft-handle cloth from a short fleece would be technically complex. According to the The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook, by Deb Robson and Carol Ekarius, “Romney is the fleece most likely to be voted president of the Wool High School senior class. It can’t do everything, but it is an all-around good citizen and extremely versatile, with personality and charisma… Because Romney are now found in many geographic regions, breeders can closely adapt their flocks to the environments. The wool reflects some of these environmental factors, but the fiber characteristics are similar enough for textile workers purposes.” With a grant from The Worshipful Company of Drapers in hand and much experimentation by a team of enthusiastic volunteers, who dyed yarn, spent hours weaving on home looms, and created patterns for samples, the end result was an eminently wearable fabric - 31 microns in diameter with a beautiful lustre. At the end of August 2014 a sample of 74 menswear designs in one ten-metre length, created by Huddersfield weaver Steven Hirst, was seen by cloth merchants Dugdale Brothers who were so impressed with the fabric’s handle that they ordered 15 designs on the spot. This was a pleasant but unexpected result, leaving Pat to phone around the local

farmers to ask if their sheep had been shorn yet. Despite claiming to have no ‘commercial experience’, Pat’s background as a diplomatic spouse, leaves her well suited to drive this project forward. One of her influential friends, a Savile Row tailor, has proven particularly useful in establishing her connections within manufacturing. An introduction to textiles expert Gordon Kaye, Former Managing Director of Taylor and Lodge, gave Romney Tweed access to commercial production, including everything from fleece sorting and scouring at Curtis Wool Direct in Bingley, spinning at Spectrum Yarns in Huddersfield, dying at Paint Box Textiles in Liversedge, to weaving at C&J Antich and finishing at WT Johnson, both in Huddersfield. Education plays a key part in Romney Tweed’s commitment to both the future of the business and the community where jobs will be created. An early partnership with London’s Central Saint Martins College in 2014 brought a group of second year textiles students to the Marsh, with the task of using Romney Tweed for their annual project. The students visited Kent Wool Growers in Ashford, where the fleeces are graded, and a Marsh farm, to meet a flock of Romney sheep face to face. Following their research trip the students designed six samples with a particular man in mind, ranging from David Beckham to Toad of Toad Hall. These samples were critiqued with three winning designs awarded £500 each. Cultivating an interest in weaving amongst

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