TM to Host Two Nights of Cutting-Edge Performances by Leading International Artists

06/30/2010 — tmpressroom

Event Dates: Friday, July 23 & Saturday, July 24, 2010 Event Venue: The Textile Museum, 2320 S Street, NW, Washington, DC 20008

Tickets: $20 per evening. Advance ticket purchase only. Buy tickets online here.

The Embassy of Denmark and The Textile Museum invite you to attend two evenings of cutting-edge textile performances, film and

Tickets on sale now!

conversation in the museum’s beautiful and historic setting on July 23 and 24, hosted by INTERWOVEN. The events are sponsored in part by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark as a Danish Cultural Event, and will coincide with Capital Fringe Festival 2010. Washington D.C.’s NPR affiliate station, WAMU American University Radio, is the official media sponsor and The Normandy Hotel of The Doyle Collection is the hotel sponsor.

On the evening of July 23, New York-based fashion collective threeASFOUR, whose designers hail from Lebanon, Israel, and Tajikistan, will collaborate on a performance highlighting their ethereal and sculptural approach to textile design while provoking a discussion of an individuals role within society through the ritualistic altering and reshaping of fabric by actors on-stage. The July 24 program will feature a new work by Copenhagen based duo Henrik Vibskov & Andreas Emenius: “The Circular Series, Section 4″ is an original site-specific performance based on human rituals, the constructions we build, and social isolation, using the contrasts of a large rigid geometric structure interacting with chaos, represented by explosions of color.

Following each of the evening performances, author and artist Sabrina Gschwandtner, founder of KnitKnit magazine, will moderate open discussions with the performers, allowing guests to interact with the artists through Q&A. Gschwandtner’s artwork has been exhibited at venues ranging from the Museum of Arts & Design, New York to Gustavsbergs Konsthall, Sweden; she has lectured at such venues as Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London and Harvard University.

In addition to live performances, the event will feature screenings including Vibskov & Emenius’ ‘Project 8’ and ‘Project 9’ (set to sound design by Swedish recording artists FEVER RAY); threeASFOUR’s video collaboration with Yoko Ono; Polish-born artist Olek’s film ‘Attempting the Impossible’ with Naomi White featuring crocheted video-tape; Berlin artist Andrea Splisgar’s ethereal production ‘Chapter 12- The Velvet Revolution’ inspired in part by tarot card number 12 and the throwing of pigments during Holi festival in India; the MoMA: Moderne installation of Shoplifter & AVAF, to critically acclaimed composer Nico Muhly’s Hair Harp collaboration with Shoplifter from ‘Skin Bone Hair’; Sabrina Gschwandtner’s film ‘NO IDLE HANDS’, featuring Liz Collins’ Knitting Nation, and Laure Drogoul’s ‘Orchestral Apparatus for Musical Knitting’, in which people create music from knitting needles outfitted with contact microphones.

Guests will experience unique performances honoring the creative use of fiber with expression through movement, light, and sound, elevating traditional conceptions of textile art. Between performances and film screenings, guests will have an opportunity to converse with the artists, enjoy the gardens and view the museum’s exhibitions.

Buy tickets online here.

To view the press release (PDF), click here.

For program updates, visit INTERWOVEN‘s website.

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The Textile Museum to Kick Off Summer with Annual Two-Day Festival

05/12/2010 — tmpressroom

Celebration of TextilesThe Textile Museum will hold its 32nd annual Celebration of Textiles on Saturday, June 5, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and Sunday, June 6, 1-5 p.m. This free festival for all ages, held rain or shine, invites visitors to explore the textile arts and cultures of the world through hands-on activities and artist demonstrations in the museum’s gardens, historic buildings and current exhibitions.

Program highlights for this year’s Celebration of Textiles festival include:

  • Live musical performances by acoustic roots duo Herb & Hanson (Sat., 2-4 p.m. and Sunday, 3-5 p.m.) who have performed at the Kennedy Center and Strathmore Hall, among other Mid-Atlantic venues
  • Hands-on activities, including block printing and bracelet making
  • Spinning, weaving, knitting, embroidery and indigo dyeing demonstrations
  • Delicious Indian food from Fojol Bros. of Merlindia (available for purchase)
  • Drawings for gift certificates to Teaism, Restaurant Nora, Kramerbooks and other Dupont Circle area businesses
  • Live sheep-shearing demonstrations

Please note: Activities and demonstrations vary on Saturday and Sunday. For full program details, visit www.textilemuseum.org. ALL ACTIVITIES ARE FREE.

Celebrating Local Students’ Art

On Saturday from 12:30-1 p.m. a ceremony will be held recognizing the students participating in this year’s Museum-School Partnership: a 1st grade class from Lafayette Elementary School; a 3rd grade class from Horace Mann Elementary School; and a 3rd-5th mixed grade level class from Matthew G. Emery Educational Center. Through this annual program, the museum educates Washington, D.C. students about textiles and the cultures that produce them, and works with students in the creation and display of their own textile artwork. Their creations will be unveiled on June 5 and will remain on view at The Textile Museum through the month.

Current Exhibitions

Visitors can explore the colorful and whimsical textile designs of three groundbreaking women in the exhibit Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain, on view May 15-September 12, 2010. Also on view is the complementary exhibit The Art of Living: Textile Furnishings from the Permanent Collection, featuring furnishing fabrics from cultures around the world.

History of Celebration of Textiles

The Celebration of Textiles festival started with the goal of inviting people to come in casually and learn about the techniques and cultures represented in the museum’s exhibitions, drawing in new audiences and offering an opportunity for people of all ages to explore the wonder and variety of textile art. While The Textile Museum now provides a variety of opportunities for children to learn about textiles year-round through school programs and the hands-on Activity Gallery of The Textile Learning Center, the spirit of Celebration of Textiles has remained constant. It aims to build a greater appreciation of the textile arts through intergenerational activities that can be enjoyed by children, parents, grandparents and friends alike.

Celebration of Textiles is funded in part by the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. The festival is part of the Dupont-Kalorama Museums Consortium’s Museum Walk Weekend. For more information about Walk Weekend, visit www.dkmuseums.com.

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World Premiere of Documentary Film on Mid-Century Design coincides with Art by the Yard Opening

04/26/2010 — tmpressroom

Chevron (detail), 1968. Lucienne Day. Manufactured by Heal Fabrics. Jill A. Wiltse and H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles.

The first public screening of Contemporary Days: Robin and Lucienne Day Design the UK, produced by Design Onscreen— The Initiative for Architecture and Design on Film, will coincide with the opening of the exhibition Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain at The Textile Museum. The 90-minute film premieres at 7:30 p.m. on May 15, 2010 at the National Geographic Museum’s Grosvenor Auditorium (1145 17th Street NW, Washington, D.C.). A question and answer session with award-winning Scottish Director Murray Grigor and Cinematographer Hamid Shams will follow the screening. General public tickets are $15, including free garage parking, and may only be purchased online and in advance through Design Onscreen (www.designonscreen.org).

Robin and Lucienne Day. Courtesy of Design Onscreen.

About the Film

Robin and Lucienne Day transformed British design after World War II with striking furniture and textiles that signaled a new modernist sensibility for everyday living. Lucienne’s abstract textile designs brought accessible elegance into the homes of postwar British consumers. Robin’s revolutionary furniture designs introduced materials such as plastic, steel and plywood to homes, offices and schools. Together, their fresh design approach helped fuel the artistic and commercial awakening that led Britain out of the devastation of World War II. The film traces the Days’ personal and professional progression over the course of their careers, spanning more than 70 years–from their days at the Royal College of the Arts in the 1930s, through their long heyday at the forefront of British design, to their recent rediscovery by new generations of design aficionados.

About the Filmmakers

Director Murray Grigor is a Scottish filmmaker, writer and curator renowned for his films on architecture and design. His first film, on Charles Rennie Mackintosh, won five international awards, and he has since co-authored The Architects’ Architect on Mackintosh’s international influence. Grigor’s other award-winning films include groundbreaking documentaries on Frank Lloyd Wright, Robert Adam and John Soane, and the landmark PBS series Pride of Place with Robert Stern. His most recent film, Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner, has been a festival favorite since its premiere in 2008 at UCLA’s Hammer Museum. Cinematographer/Producer Hamid Shams has served as director, cinematographer and/or producer for numerous television commercials, music videos and short and feature documentary/narrative films, including Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner, Tie-Died: Rock ’n Roll’s Most Dedicated Fans, and Painting the Town—all of which received highly favorable reviews for cinematography in major newspapers and festivals around the US and Europe.

About Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain

Opening May 15, Art by the Yard will be view at The Textile Museum through September 12, 2010, and is the first exhibition of its kind in Washington, D.C. The art of textile design changed radically after World War II as Britain was transformed from a country devastated by war into an optimistic consumer society. Three women designers were pivotal in this artistic revolution: Lucienne Day (1917- 2010), Jacqueline Groag (1903-1985) and Marian Mahler (1911-1983). Incorporating dramatic saturated colors and bold motifs inspired by artists like Alexander Calder and Joan Miró, these young designers transformed the market by inspiring elegant yet affordable product lines that brought the world of contemporary art into everyone’s homes. The exhibition showcases the work of these groundbreaking women designers through the display of textiles together with drawings and collages, ceramics and period furniture, all drawn from the Jill A. Wiltse and H. Kirk Brown III Collection of British Textiles.

About Design Onscreen

Design Onscreen is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit foundation dedicated to producing, promoting and preserving high-quality films on architecture and design. Founded in 2007 by Denver documentary enthusiasts Jill A. Wiltse and H Kirk Brown III, Design Onscreen’s other architectural documentaries include: William Krisel, Architect (screening at LA’s Getty Center in April 2010), Journeyman Architect: The Life and Work of Donald Wexler (2009) and Desert Utopia: Midcentury Architecture in Palm Springs (2009). Another Design Onscreen film, Hella Jongerius: Contemporary Archetypes (2009), premiered in May 2009 at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Museum of Art and Design. Please visit www.designonscreen.org for more information.

To view the press release (PDF), click here.

To download the press kit for Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain, click here.

Posted in Concerts and Special Events, Exhibits, Press Releases, Public Programs, Uncategorized. Leave a Comment »

Mme. Herawati Boediono, wife of the Vice President of Indonesia visits The TM

04/14/2010 — tmpressroom

From left: Mattiebelle Gittinger, Maryclaire Ramsey and Mme. Boediono with her escorts

On Tuesday, April 13, Mme. Herawati Boediono, wife of the Vice President Boediono of Indonesia visited The Textile Museum for a tour of the exhibition The Art of Living: Textile Furnishings from the Permanent Collection led by Associate Curator Lee Talbot and accompagnied by CEO Maryclaire Ramsey. Following the tour, Mme. Boediono was escorted into collections storage where Research Associate Mattiebelle Gittinger, an expert in the field of Southeast Asian textiles shared a prized contemporary batik in the TM collection. Mme. Boediono serves as President of the National Crafts Council of Indonesia, and is in Washington, D.C. briefly as her husband, Vice President Boediono of Indonesia attended the Nuclear Security Summit held April 12 and 13.

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Matsuri, a Japanese midwinter festival for families, at The TM on March 7

02/04/2010 — tmpressroom
Young visitors at a recent TM family program

Young visitors at a recent TM family program

WHAT: Experience Japanese culture with the whole family at an afternoon festival held at The Textile Museum. This free program, co-presented with the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C., includes hands-on activities, demonstrations and performances for all ages. Program highlights include:

  • Dance performances by Shizumi Minale, a children’s dance troupe
  • Introduction to Japanese culture and language
  • Station to try on traditional Japanese children’s kimono
  • “Chopstick challenge”
  • Kamishibai – paper box theater presentations
  • Japanese fish and fan decorating
  • And much more!

WHEN: Sunday, March 7, 1-5 p.m.

WHERE: The Textile Museum, 2320 S Street NW, Washington DC 20008; Metro: Dupont Circle, Q Street exit

MEDIA CONTACT: Cyndi Bohlin, (202) 667-0441, ext. 78 or cbohlin@textilemuseum.org

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TM to partner with three local public and charter school classes

01/05/2010 — tmpressroom

Students from Davis Elementary School pose with their work. Photo by Bill Petros.

This spring, thee local elementary and middle school classes in the District of Columbia will have the chance to take a special tour of an upcoming exhibition, and then create a unique piece of textile art to display at The Textile Museum for an entire month. For the sixth year running, The Textile Museum is inviting all 1st to 6th grade public or charter school classes in the District of Columbia to apply for our sixth-annual Museum-School Partnership. Starting in February, The TM will partner with three classes from local schools to learn about The Art of Living: Textile Furnishings from the Permanent Collection (opening February 12, 2010), plan and create a unique textile art project, and exhibit the artwork at the museum during June 2010. Participating classes are also invited to a special recognition ceremony at the annual Celebration of Textiles (June 5 and 6, 2010) – attended by nearly 3,500 people last year.  

 For more information about the project, click here.

 Applications are due by COB January 29, 2010. Download an application.

To add a teacher you know to our educator’s list, email info@textilemuseum.org.

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Holiday Shopping Preview at The TM Shop

11/17/2009 — tmpressroom

Many of us leave our holiday shopping until the last minute, but The Textile Museum Shop is holding several events this fall to inspire gift-givers to get a jump start this year. 

The shop— voted as one of the ten best museum stores in the nation’s capital by National Geographic’s “Intelligent Travel” blog—offers a colorful selection of scarves, jewelry, books, fine fabrics and other handmade goods for sale. The stock is constantly changing and always unique. In conjunction with the museum’s two new fall exhibitions, Contemporary Japanese Fashion: The Mary Baskett Collection and Fabrics of Feathers and Steel: The Innovation of Nuno (on view from October 17, 2009 through April 11, 2010), visitors should expect to see fresh exhibition-related items for sale. The TM Shop is the only retailer in the DC Metro area carrying Nuno Corporation products, and its home decor from AMARIDIAN, a group of sub-Saharan designers, was recently featured in The Washington Post’s “Home and Garden” pages. View the press release, or visit http://www.textilemuseum.org/calendar/calendar.htm, for details on upcoming shopping events.

For more information, or to view the press release, CLICK HERE (pdf)

For a holiday shopping product preview, CLICK HERE (pdf)

 

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TM ranked among 10 Best Museum Shops in DC

07/31/2009 — tmpressroom

The National Geographic Society’s Intelligent Travel blog has ranked the TM Museum Shop the sixth best museum store in Washington, DC. Intelligent Travel highlights sustainable travel that “preserves places’ essential uniqueness” and includes travel essays and reviews of businesses and attractions around the world. In a city full of specialty museum gift shops, The Textile Museum Shop was recognized for its welcoming space and the quality of the handmade textiles available for purchase. Visit Intelligent Travel (link to http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2009/07/10-best-museum-gift-shops-in-d.html) to read the review.

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