Mining Mending
Exhibits: April 18, 2023 – July 20, 2023
Events: May 18 – June 23, 2023
Mining Mending: Rethink, Reuse, Revive explores and celebrates the many facets of mending as a part of creative practice. By stitching with conceptual and structural integrity, using recycled materials as art supplies, patching with purpose, and honoring of labor through repair, repurposing, and renewal, the powerful message and act of restoration and rejuvenation through mending serves as means for artists (and community activists) to express their positions on social, economic, and environmental justice.
A cohort of internationally recognized artists, writers, and historians has come together exhibit, teach, and talk about mending – rethink, reuse, revive — as both physical process and metaphor. Program exhibitions, discussions, and workshops are designed to focus on topics from healing practice to social practice, to economic and environmentally informed practice, and to building and maintaining bridges to textile traditions. Through a dynamic schedule of program activities, our intention is to engage a broad range of modalities and invest in new relationships to strengthen our fiber art community.
Join us for an event from our growing list! Registration links and activities will continue to be added for June – September. Click on the tabs below for more details.
EVENT LINEUP:
- Art Speaks: Folk Embroideries of Kutch with Judy Frater, Thursday, May 18, 12 pm CT on Zoom
- Art Speaks: Resurgence with Asif Shaikh, Thursday, June 1, 11 am CT/9:30 pm IST on Zoom
- Reception: Mining Mending exhibitions, Tuesday, June 6, 5:30 – 7 pm at Textile Center
- Workshop: Creative Mending for Knits, Tuesday, June 6, 6:00 – 9 pm at Textile Center
- Collective Mending Project: Community Mending Sessions, 1 – 4, and 6 – 9 pm, Wednesday, June 7 at Textile Center
- Art Speaks: My Life in Indigo with Gasali Onireke Adeyemo Tuesday, June 13, 5 pm at Textile Center and on Zoom
- Workshops: Creative Mending Community Workshops, FREE and open to all (continuation of The Community Mending Project sessions), Wednesdays, June 14, 21, and 28, 5 – 7:30 pm at Textile Center
- Open Call: Pride Flag, June 15, 2023
- Art Speaks: Mining Mending and Social Practice, with Rachel Breen, Amy Meissner, Celia Pym, and Winnie van der Rijn, Thursday, June 22, 12 pm CT on Zoom
- Craft Night: Pride Patches and Pockets, Thursday, June 22, 5 – 7:30 pm at Textile Center
- Art Speaks: “What is Kantha, Anyway?” with Pika Ghosh, Friday, June 23, 12 pm CT on Zoom
The events above are low-cost or free to attend. Related workshops can be found on the WORKSHOPS tab below.
(Header image: detail of Mended Pastry Bag by Celia Pym)
Mining Mending
April 25 – July 15, 2023 • Joan Mondale & Community Galleries
Artist reception: Tuesday, June 6, 5:30 – 7 pm
Featuring the work of Rachel Breen, Brooks Harris Stevens, Lisa Kokin, Amy Meissner, Mark Newport, Celia Pym, Catherine Reinhart, Winnie van der Rijn, and The Collective Mending Sessions
Resurgence: Revival of Indian Embroidery
April 18 – June 7, 2023 • Mary Giles Gallery
Asif Shaikh
Join us for this special exhibit of work by Asif Shaikh, from Ahmedabad, India. Shaikh’s incredible embroideries, research, and writing create a bridge between East and West, old and new, tradition and innovation. His intricate and labor intensive artisan stitching “mends” a historic gap in Indian craft through his revival of Mughal (court) embroidery. Textile Center is honored to share this work with our audience, from April 18 – June 7.
Thanks to Mary Anne Wise for introducing us to Asif’s work and to Shelley Wells for delivering, curating, and installing this exhibition.
Vintage Kantha Quilts
April 25 – July 20, 2023 • Library Gallery
Collection on loan from Cultural Cloth, Maiden Rock, WI
“Kantha, making whole again that which was fragmented or broken.” Crafts Museum, New Delhi
This rotating exhibition of vintage kantha quilts from West Bengal, created using layers of soft recycled fabrics held together using small straight running stitches– mended with additional layers of fabric as necessary due to time and wear– is on loan from Cultural Cloth in Maiden Rock, WI. Also on view in the library is a collection of books on the subject of stitching and mending, in support of the Mining Mending program.
The Collective Mending Sessions
June 13 – July 20, 2023 • Mary Giles Gallery
The Collective Mending Sessions rely on the communal actions of mending together. By synthesizing the slow fiber movement’s focus on locality, quality, and craftsmanship with the ancient practice of mending, I am creating new forms of communal making. With my work, I contribute to relevant and timely discussions reframing the value of care and connection to our neighbors and our possessions. I give voice and hold space for stories of repair, loss, and kinship. – Catherine Reinhart, Founder, The Collective Mending Sessions
View recordings of some of our Art Speaks discussions a part of the Mining Mending program!
Art Speaks: Folk Embroideries of Kutch with Judy Frater
Art Speaks: Resurgence with Asif Shaikh
Art Speaks: African Blues – My Life in Indigo with Gasali Adeyemo
Art Speaks: Mining Mending – Social and Creative Practice
This series of workshops was offered in conjunction with Mining Mending — embracing themes of Rethinking, Reusing, and Reviving!
Adult Classes
Craft Night: Pride Patches + Pockets
Thursday, June 22, 5 – 7:30 pm
Creative Mending for Knits
Tuesday, June 6, 10 am – 1 pm
Creative Mending Community Workshops
Wednesdays, June 14, 21, and 28, 5 – 7:30 pm
