Between the weather and Covid, this is turning into a bit of a stay-at-home winter. It’s not that there aren’t exhibitions and other events on around the traps, but even masked, we’re hunkering down a bit. But if you’d like to pretend to go out, between now and the end of July, you can partake of the Threads symposium that the Dowse ran online on 18 June, after having had to reschedule because of the April surge. There are conversations with Reuben Patterson about rugs and glittery tshirts, Kate Sylvester and art, and presentations by many others. The perfect thing for the next wet weekend, which looks to be coming very soon, so take advantage of this opportunity with thanks to the Dowse for making it available online for an extended time. https://www.livestreamevents.co.nz/the-dowse-contemporary-arts-and-textiles-symposium/home
On the subject of symposiums, the call for papers for the 2023 Costume Society of America symposium is open. Their 49th annual meeting and symposium will be in Salt Lake City next May, with the theme of Crossroads of Dress & Adornment: Creativity, Culture & Collaboration. If you’re looking ahead that far, check out their web page for all the options for a proposal and add that to your winter to-do list.
Something else that has recently found a new online home is the wonderful short documentary Pluck, which first turned up at the Doc Edge Film Festival in 2020 and is now available to stream via NZ On Screen. Pluck is the story of Jean Neshausen’s trip to the Rēkohu Chatham Islands to procure weka feathers for a korowai for her daughter. https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/pluck-2020
If the staying in is getting to you, you might like to make plans for small-group things for upcoming months. Christchurch’s Rekindle offers a range of workshops including weaving and felting and other things, and as well as the in-person schedule, there’s a series of short films offering virtual workshop experiences, again with various textile options. https://www.rekindle.org.nz/collections/resourceful-workshops
Meanwhile in Auckland, Ingrid Anderson will be running screen printing workshops over the next few months: https://www.iatextiledesign.co.nz/workshops
It’s also coming up film festival time, with the festival opening in Auckland 28 July before rolling out across the country. The most dress-addressing movies in this year’s programme look to be The Blue Caftan, “as impeccably crafted as the exquisite eponymous caftan tailored by its protagonist”, and The Corsage, a biopic about the 19th century Empress Elisabeth of Austria, “a woman who is restrained not just by her clothing, but by the expectations of society”. If the festival isn’t rolling out your way quite yet, keep an eye out for another couple of dress movies. The classic 1950s novel, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris is back on the big screen, this time with Lesley Manville as the London cleaning lady who falls in love with a Dior dress, while A Stitch in Time is another Australian movie about a dressmaker that looks like a quiet treat for a wet day. https://www.nziff.co.nz/nziff-2022/auckland/ will start you linking to your local screenings.
And one final thing, something not to do while you’re stuck at home – the washing! In a recent health discourse blog, Stella Lange extols the virtues of vodka: https://healthdiscourse.nz/2022/07/21/permission-to-do-less/