World of Threads 2012 is here

World of Threads Festival is here!

Oakville & Toronto Ontario, Canada.

The festival is an international showcase of contemporary fibre art. We are a not-for-profit initiative with charitable status. We exhibit innovative fibre based art from around the world and highlight the strength of our local talent. The Festival is run by dedicated volunteers Dawne Rudman (Chair & Festival Curator) and Gareth Bate (Festival Curator). Individual exhibitions are carefully planned by various curators in Oakville and Toronto.

Beginning in 1994 as a single Oakville exhibition, the festival continues to grow in size and ambition. The principle shows are the Common Thread International Exhibitions which feature work submitted by hundreds of artists around the world.

For the 2012 festival we have expanded into Toronto. We will continue to be based in Oakville, Ontario.

The town of Oakville, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario 45 minutes west of Toronto. Oakville has a vibrant cultural scene for which the World of Threads Festival is a prominent player. Toronto is the largest city in Canada and has a large and important art world. The festival draws visitors from across the region and internationally.

2012 Upcoming Festival

Weekly Fibre Artist Interviews Series starting in Jan. 2011 highlight fibre artists around the world and make the festival website a regular stop for fibre art lovers.

Curated exhibitions based on an international call for submissions replace the previous model of juried shows.  2012 Common Thread International curators include: Gareth Bate, Dawne Rudman, Evan Tyler, Richard McNeill & Shuhui Lee and Rochelle Rubinstein.

Expansion of the Festival into Toronto.

Contemporary Fibre Art becomes the emphasis. We will exhibit work from around the world.

Festival Chair is Dawne Rudman, quilter and Oakville's 2007 Volunteer of the Year.

Festival Curators: Gareth Bate & Dawne Rudman.

Gareth Bate Design creates new website and all graphic design.

Oakville Venues: Joshua Creek Heritage Arts Centre, The Gallery at Sheridan Institute, The Gallery at Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Culture Centre (QEP) and QEP Display Area, QEP Halls, Abbozzo Gallery, Oakville Towne Hall, O’Connor MacLeod Hanna, Ristorante Julia, Oakville Place Shopping Centre.

Toronto Venues: gallerywest, Candian Sculpture Centre, Mon Ton Window Gallery, 401 Richmond St. West -Red Room and The Roastery Coffee House, Lonsdale Gallery, The Gladstone Hotel, Case Goods Warehouse in the Distillery District, Gallery 918, Studio Cycle Group.

Countries Represented: Austria, Australia, Canada,

Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Peru, Spain, UK, USA.Canadian Provinces Represented: Alberta,

British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan.

American States Represented: California, Florida,

Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia.

English Counties Represented: Bedfordshire,

Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, East Sussex, Lancashire, Warwickshire, West Sussex, Wiltshire.

Memento mori
Common Thread

International Exhibition

Major Exhibition

The Memento mori exhibition at the Gallery at Sheridan Institute deals with themes of death, mortality and grief, and the quest for immortality.

The show developed out of a call for submissions called "Fibre Inspired". The call was based on a trend Festival Curator Gareth Bate had observed in contemporary art towards creating work using the techniques and aesthetic of fibre, but using non-fibre materials. He was struck by how radically different these submissions were. They were dark both physically and thematically.

The central question became why are these artists choosing to use fibre construction techniques but replacing the fragility, impermanence and tactility of fibre materials with hard, 'permanent', and difficult to manipulate materials such as stone, bronze, metal, wood, bark, ceramic, plastic, wire, solid paint and wax?

The thematic darkness of the majority of submissions was also fascinating. The exhibition creates an underworld environment. Mummification is a central theme. This process attempts to preserve and make immortal the ephemeral body.

Working with different materials is always as interesting as it is challenging. This piece reflects upon the transition of time, lifeless tree and our interaction to give back life to this tree. By standing in front of this tree, mirrors reflecting ourselves through the tree give life from the inside, bringing hope to the future.
Futuristic Birch Tree is a combination of materials with metallic scrap, metallic yarns, beads, fleece, cleaning scrubs and metallic ribbons.

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Curator

Canada, Ontario, Toronto: Gareth Bate.

Artists

Canada: Ontario: Barrie: Lisa Brunetta, Cambridge: Nancy Yule, Niagara-on-the-lake:

Wendyth Anderson Breedveld, Stratford: Wendy O'Brien, Toronto: Carrie Chisholm, Nicole Collins,

David Cumming, Robert Davidovitz, Trish Delaney, Camilla Geary-Martin, Susan Lukachko,

Mary McKenzie, Lilly Otasevic, Rochelle Rubinstein, Oakville: Ixchel Suarez, Saskatchewan: Moose Jaw:

Anna Hergert.

USA: North Carolina: Raleigh: Megan Bostic.

De rerum natura
(On The Nature of Things)

 Common Thread
International Exhibition

Major Exhibition

De rerum natura (On The Nature of Things) is a highly eccentric exhibition evoking the collection of a mad 18th century naturalist. All the artwork is dealing with themes of nature, plants and animals. Curator Gareth Bate has observed that environmental work is the most dominant theme in contemporary fibre art. This lush and colourful environment is filled with striking and sometimes bizarre work. The show features the work of 35 artists from Canada, Denmark, United Kingdom and USA. They are working in a huge variety of media. There will be installation, sculpture and 2D work. The title of the exhibition is based on the ancient Roman poem De rerum natura by Lucretius who's rediscovery was a major inspiration for Renaissance artists.

Gareth is setting up the De rerum natura  in opposition to Memento mori  his other exhibition at The Gallery at Sheridan Institute in Oakville. That exhibition deals with themes of death, mortality and grief. The work is dark and the polar opposite of life filled work of De rerum natura. All the Memento mori artwork engages with techniques or the aesthetic of fibre, but none of the work is actually made of fibre materials. Gareth is exploring the contrast of fibre/life and artificial materials/death.

Canada: British Columbia: Vancouver: Bettina Matzkuhn, Carlyn Yandle, Manitoba: Winnipeg: Heather Komus, Ingrid Lincoln, New Brunswick: Saint John: Sandra Betts, Ontario: Alliston: Amy Bagshaw, Kingston:

Phillida Hargreaves, Robin Laws Field, Sylvia Naylor, Kitchener: Joanne Young, Mississauga: Pat Hertzberg, Oakville:Sybil Rampen, Ixchel Suarez, Ottawa: Sayward Johnson, Rockwood: Susan Strachan Johnson,Toronto: Lizz Aston, karen darricades, Libby Hague, Jillian MacLachlan, Liz Menard, Leanne Shea Rhem,

Sheila Thompson,Tweed: Marta Mouka, Quebec: Montreal: Soufïa Bensaïd, Emily Jan, Valérie d. Walker, St-Sauveur:Marjolein Dallinga, Saskatchewan: Meacham: June J. Jacobs.

Denmark: Copenhagen: Birgitta Hallberg.

United Kingdom: Liverpool: Sarah Martin.

USA: California: San Francisco: Chris Motley, Georgia: Atlanta: Leisa Rich, Massachusetts: Somerville: Jodi Colella,Oregon: Philomath: Laura G. Berman, Virginia: Charlottesville: Lotta Helleberg.

Quiet ZoneCommon Thread
International Exhibition

 Major Exhibition

While viewing the submissions for the Common Thread International, curator Dawne Rudman was most caught by the work in neutral colours and from this, an idea emerged. Neutral colours are often used as a background or to give a highlight to something. However, neutral shades can also be elegant, alluring and strong, deserving prominent recognition in their own right. For this reason, she decided to make them the focus of this show.

Ranging from the blacks and charcoals with their dusky, shadowy hues, to the frosted, milky, or chalky whites, the work also explores the café au lait, creamy caramels, sand and tan shades. A rich range of opposites and complements is the result, made more exciting by the variations in texture. There are fragile pieces, which almost beg for protection. There are others that in spite of being multi-layered are very revealing. Some are made of silk or paper adding to their delicate appearance, some have a luminous quality, and some cast gentle shadows.

All their differences aside though, the work in this exhibition engages the viewer in a remarkable visual feast of blending and intertwining hues and textures. There are 25 artists in this exhibition, hailing from Austria, Canada, England, France, Ireland and the USA.

Curator

Canada, Ontario, Oakville: Dawne Rudman.

Artists

Austria: Vienna: Kerstin Bennier.

Canada: British Columbia: Nelson: Maggie Tchir, Rossland: Kathleen Hill, Summerland: Barbara Wellborn, Ontario: Brampton: Chamila Belleth, Cambridge: Nancy Yule, London: Dagmar Kovar, Manitoulin Island: Judy Martin,Mississauga: Pat Hertzberg, Oakville: Ixchel Suarez, Peterborough: Kelly O'Neill, Toronto: Lorena Santin Andrade, Yael Brotman, Lisa DiQuinzio, Lisa Kemp, Valerie Knapp, Colleen A. Lynch, Rochelle Rubinstein, Quebec: Montreal:Ariane Lavoie.

France: Lyon: Dominique Arlot.

Ireland: Co. Kildare: Saidhbhín Gibson.

United Kingdom: Cambridgeshire: Cambridge: Catherine Dormor.

USA: California: Los Angeles: Lori Zimmerman, Michigan: East Lansing: Xia Gao,North Carolina: Raleigh:

Megan Bostic.