Bauhaus artist Anni Albers had an enduring interest in the material limitations of textiles and the possibilities these constraints offered. Encouraging her students to “start at the point of zero”, she advocated for practitioners to rethink the fundamentals of textiles and then test their boundaries—her approaches to materiality continue to influence practitioners today. 

This one-day symposium brings together practitioners and thinkers to explore the vast potentials of fibre and textiles as both a material and subject in contemporary practice. The program features a keynote presentation from Antonia Syme AM, Director, Australian Tapestry Workshop, alongside a series of conversations with exhibiting artists, curators, and guest speakers. Discussions consider how contemporary artists draw on the influences of Minimalism through the grid, subvert gendered perceptions around craft, and explore the significance of textiles within material culture.

11.00am  |  Introduction
Exhibition co-curator Catherine Woolley introduces the project ‘Pliable Planes: Expanded Textiles & Fibre Practices’, discussing key ideas underpinning the exhibition.

11.15am  |  Discussion: Grid Locked
Participating artists Akira Akira, Lucia Dohrmann, and Jacqueline Stojanović consider the enduring influences of geometric abstraction and Minimalism in their textile practices. Together they discuss the inherent nature of the grid within textiles processes, and consider underlying design principles including symmetry and repetition of modular elements; direct use and presentation of materials; and the elimination of the non-essential. Moderated by independent curator and writer James Gatt.

12.15pm  |  Discussion: Heavy Craft 

For German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School Walter Gropius, women were unsuitable for the ‘heavier’ craft areas of sculpture, woodwork, metalwork, and painting. Instead, they were encouraged to participate in areas considered more suitable for ‘women’s work’ which included textiles, bookbinding, and pottery. This discussion with exhibiting artists Sarah Contos, Teelah George, and Anne-Marie May consider how contemporary artists subvert gendered perceptions around textiles and craft through rigorous approaches to making. Moderated by exhibition co-curator Karen Hall.

1.15pm  |  Break

2.15pm  |  Keynote
The Australian Tapestry Workshop brings contemporary artists, designers, architects, and weavers together to create hand-woven tapestries. Antonia Syme AM has been the Director since 2009 and provides insight into how this collaborative culture has evolved in the commissioning and production of projects for the tapestry medium.

3.00pm  |  Discussion: Material Intimacies

Exhibiting practitioners Kate Scardifield and Katie West explore the significance of textiles and fibre in material culture. Together they will consider the relationship of textiles to the body and the environment, and expand on understandings of how textiles and fibre are defined and used in contemporary practice. Moderated by Katie Dyer, Senior Curator, Contemporary, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.

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Presented in conjunction with Pliable Planes: Expanded Textiles & Fibre Practices at UNSW Galleries, 29 April – 17 July 2022.

Discussion: Grid Locked for 'Starting at Zero' at UNSW Galleries, 2022. 
Speakers: Akira Akira, Lucia Dohrmann, and Jacqueline Stojanović. Moderator: James Gatt, 
Photograph: Document Photography

 

Discussion: Heavy Craft for 'Starting at Zero' at UNSW Galleries, 2022. 
Speakers: Sarah Contos and Anne-Marie May. Photograph: Document Photography

Discussion: Heavy Craft for 'Starting at Zero' at UNSW Galleries, 2022. 
Photograph: Document Photography

Keynote for 'Starting at Zero' at UNSW Galleries, 2022. Speaker: Antoia Symes AM. 
Photograph: Document Photography

Discussion: Material Intimacies for 'Starting at Zero' at UNSW Galleries, 2022. 
Speakers: Kate Scardifield and Katie West. Moderator: Katie Dyer. 
Photograph: Document Photography