The 2017 Symposium countdown continues with registrations bubbling along and some of the programme highlights available. This year’s symposium begins with an exhibition opening on Thursday 18 May; the programme for the next two days includes three keynote speakers, Doris de Pont, Sarah Lancaster, and Pamela Elliott.
Doris de Pont needs no introduction to CTANZ members: the founder of the New Zealand Fashion Museum will talk about how her ongoing exploration of the ways clothing can signify or express identity and belonging connects both her fashion careers.
Sarah Lancaster is another fashion entrepreneur: her Sew Love workshops tour the country to share her beliefs that sewing isn’t just about bringing two pieces of fabric together – it’s also about bringing people together to show how life can be more satisfying when you consume less.
The third keynote speaker, Auckland consultant, artist and former gallerist Pamela Elliott will offer a perspective on the relationships formed by her multi-stranded career in textiles.
Outside the keynotes, a range of CTANZ stalwarts and newcomers will present on topics including Tudor fragments, wool marketing, weaving, Samoan textiles, possum pelts…as usual, subjects and styles will be distinctive and diverse, academic and personal.
The symposium will begin with Thursday night’s opening of the Fibre Connecting People: a multicultural fibre art exhibition at the Waikato Museum, featuring textile items holding special significance to migrants, either linking them to their past or connecting them to their new experience. Each article will be accompanied by narrative on textile and experience, using these to explore common threads of the migrant life and highlight connections and cohesion.
And while the exhibition and the programme will keep you busy, for those who take the opportunity to explore Hamilton, the organisers have put together a CTANZ Waikato Shopping Guide 2017 to set you in the right direction.
All details are on the registration form – register now!