The inaugural Chicago Textile Week kicked off September 18th with a week full of festivities!!
First, for some groundwork, let me explain the Bauhaus briefly. The Bauhaus was founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 and closed in 1933. The Bauhaus or “School of Building” has had a profound influence upon subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography. Due to the decrease in enrollment and hostility of the Nazi Government, several artists emigrated to the United States, where they continued the Bauhaus ethos. Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe was the architectural director of the Bauhaus in the later years of 1930 to 1933. After Mies emigrated to the United States, he accepted the position to head the architecture school at the Armour Institute of Technology (later the Illinois Institute of Technology), here in Chicago.
The Bauhaus weaving workshop provided its students the opportunity to study, practice, and teach at an institution that arguably embraced an ethos of equality among artists as well as materials. Some notable weaving artists: Anni Albers, Otti Berger, Gunta Stolzl. Through ties to arts-education institutions including Black Mountain College (Asheville, North Carolina), Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut) and the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design (founded as “The New Bauhaus” by emigres), disciples of the Bauhaus supported their contemporaries and influenced later artists. Some later artists being Sheila Hicks and Lenore Tawney.
Chicago Textile Week was a venture/Vision from Kathleen Neary and also a 100th year Chicago celebration of the Bauhaus. Kat currently works for Carnegie Fabrics, is Adjunct Faculty at Columbia College and has recently become a member of the Board of Directors of the Textile Society at the Art Institute of Chicago. The week contained events ranging from the old school to the new school, highlighting textiles from residential, commercial and gallery worthy pieces. Below are quick recaps/photos from the daily events.
I look forward to next year’s Textile Week that will be bigger and better. If you are interested in supporting, sponsorship or highlighting your work, either reach out to me or email info@chicagotextileweek.com
Sunday - The Weaving Mill
The Weaving Mill is an experimental weaving studio in Humboldt Park that blends design, fine art, textile education, and research-based practice. They produce limited editions of home textiles and apparel in addition to collaborative design and production with artists and designers.
In partnership with social services agency Envision Unlimited, TWM runs textile education programs for adults with developmental disabilities and host an annual artist residency program. In all these realms, TWM aims to fill the space between the hand and industrially made and bring the mechanics of textile production into wider view.
Monday - Wired to Wear & Tufting Gun Tapestries
Early afternoon on day 2 we were free to roam the Wired to Wear Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industries. The tour lead us through the exhibit highlighting the overall direction of the exhibit. The future is bright with these teams working on new textiles for us all to experience. I particularly was excited about the Pix Backpack and ofcourse the MIT BioSuit.
Since we were south of the city, after the Wired exhibit we visited the Logan Center at the University of Chicago. Tufting Gun Tapestries presents textile experiments produced by the art and architecture collective Assemble and multidisciplinary artist Duval Timothy, in collaboration with Big Chief Demond Melancon and his students from the Material Institute in New Orleans. Exploring alternative education and spatial practices, this project transforms the Logan Center Gallery into an active site of learning and production through the investigation of an ancient carpet making technique reimagined with contemporary tufting equipment. Exhibit Foldout & Exhibit Checklist
Tuesday - The Bauhaus Project by Designtex
Commercial textiles came into the fold on Tuesday at Designtex. Designtex’s latest product line celebrates the women of the Bauhaus. Bauhaus restricted women to what they called “feminine” disciplines such as weaving. The current product line takes cues from the portfolios of Gunta Stölzl and Anni Albers.
