The Association AGM is held in Conway Hall, a rather nice old-fashioned brick building in tranquil, leafy Red Lion Square, a few yards north of High Holborn. (Conway Hall is the home of the Ethical Society, which began as a dissident congregation in 1787 in rebellion against the doctrine of eternal hell!)
Historically, it’s been held in London every other year, with the alternate years attached to a Conference in a regional centre. However, from now on all AGMs will be held in London, with a Guilds Gathering in alternate years. The GPC has done its best arrange a conference type meeting and the first such will be at the University of Worcester from 19-21 June 2020, called ‘Colour – the Full Spectrum’. There will be keynote speakers, including: Margo Selby, Susan K Williams (CEO of the Royal School of Needlework), Alison Daykin, Caroline Nixon, Daniel Harris (London Cloth Company), practical sessions, talks and a Saturday evening dinner. The 2020 National Exhibition will be held at Leigh Spinners Mill, Greater Manchester from 5-20 September. The theme for the juried section will be ‘Coal, Cotton, Canals’, and for the non-juried section ‘Still Waters’, a textile piece within a 6 inch ring. Angela Colbridge, the Chairman, greeted all delegates at the door on arrival (a nice touch). The meeting started fairly promptly at 11.10, with 50 delegates present and a number of observers. Angela introduced our outgoing President, Jenny Balfour-Paul, who gave her usual enthusiastic and spirited address. She mentioned in particular the enormous amount of hard work done by the GPC, all of whom are volunteers, and praised the Guilds for the vast number of skills within their membership. She said that ‘artisan’ was now the buzz word, rather than ‘craftsperson’, and she had come to realise that the young wanted to get back to actually making things, although their tutors often didn’t have the knowledge to teach them! She would continue to be an ambassador for the Guilds and emphasised the need to use social media to engage the next generation. Jenny was presented with an absolutely beautiful fine silk shawl, handwoven (of course) and indigo-dyed. Chairman’s, Treasurer’s and Secretary’s Reports had been circulated in advance and were adopted, as were new appointments to the GPC and JEC. Various points of interest raised were:
After lunch, Jennie Parry, the new President, opened the afternoon session with some background to her life In textiles. Her mother was a member of the London Guild in the 1950s and Jenny had her first loom when she was six. She too, was exercised by the huge gaps in the knowledge of graduating textile students, and encouraged us to help them as early as we can, saying that many will return to us later in their lives if these strong links are fostered. She suggested finding out about local Degree Shows and attending them to talk to the graduates. The Association should be a rich source of information to everyone and children of 7 upwards should be welcome with a parent to learn how to use all their fingers, not just their thumbs! She encouraged us to have events at least once a year where youngsters get the opportunity to learn. After considerable discussion, both the Propositions brought by the GPC were carried with a large majority. It amazed me that there were such long discussions about relatively tiny matters. Montgomeryshire Guild’s two Points for Discussion were also thoroughly considered and answered. Following a query, there was a a general discussion about how various Guilds organised Guild outings, weekends away, etc. The meeting ended at 3.00 p.m. All in all, an interesting day, and a good way to meet members of other Guilds and to get a feel for all the work done by the GPC on behalf of all the Guilds. Mary HIcks I went to see the Anni Albers Exhibition at the Tate Modern shortly before it closed at the end of January 2019. It was a busy exhibition and a friend who tried to go a week later was unable to get tickets as it had sold out. The audience viewing the exhibition covered a variety of ages gender and nationalities. Walking through the exhibition, it was interesting overhearing conversations about “how did she get that bit there? - Oh, I see, it’s joined here” and people counting the number of ends in a piece. Not your usual gallery conversations. They had pieces from early in her career, through the design process and items from her commercial furnishing work in a New York Hotel. Anni Albers was born in Germany and studied at the Bauhaus . She took over as the Head of the Weaving Studio in 1931. After it closed in 1932 following pressure from the Nazi party. She and her husband fled to North Carolina and they taught at Black Mountain College. Anni became the first textile designer to have a one person show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City This was the first piece to greet you on entering the exhibition and from the close up, you can see that even Anni didn’t make straight edges. |
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