Carlisle, Cumbria; Canberra, Australia and Turku, Finland: an unlikely trio at first glance, so what’s the connection? The answer: textile artists intent on raising the profile of textile arts education globally.
Staff, students and alumni from the undergraduate and postgraduate Contemporary Applied Arts programme at the University of Cumbria have been collaboratively exploring current textile practice with textile departments at the Australian National University and Novia University of Applied Sciences, Finland.
Entitled ‘Nets’, exhibitions of the resulting work will take place this autumn in Australia and the UK. The Alexandra Gallery, on the university’s Lancaster campus, will host the Nets exhibition in October this year, featuring textile artorks by staff, students and alumni from the University of Cumbria, based on their own interpretation of the theme of ‘Nets’. Examples of the work produced by the overseas artists can be viewed in a digital format within the Lancaster exhibition.
Angie Wyman, course leader for MA Contemporary Applied arts and Nets exhibition organiser explains:
“The Nets project was established through academic connections between the three universities and has allowed us to further connect through textile practice. Commonalities, differences, shared concerns and interests have all been shared through a blog. Each university agreed to explore their own responses to ‘Nets’ with individual exhibitions at each location. We have communicated and connected ‘virtually’ through the project; so to show each others textile outcomes digitally and virtually seemed to be the perfect sustainable solution”.
Showing alongside ‘Nets’ is this year’s MA Contemporary Applied Arts exhibition. at the same time as ‘Nets’. Visitors can view installation textiles inspired by the 1930’s home, from Skipton artist Karen Griffiths, and intricate woven and embroidered textile works with animation by Milnthorpe artist, Stella Adams-Schofield.
Both studied for their MA part-time at the Faculty of Arts, Business and Science at the Brampton Road campus, Carlisle.
Karen Griffiths is absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to show her final year work at such a prestigious location. She says: “The MA degree show is the culmination of two years’ hard work and to be able to have my pieces on display at the Alexandra Gallery alongside such august company as the ‘NETS’ exhibitors is just the icing on the cake!”
NETWURKS 