Wednesday, November 6, 2013

25th Anniversary Events with the Textile Museum of Canada


We’re well in to the swing of our 25th Anniversary and kicking off some exciting events to commemorate this milestone!


Creative Matters has partnered with the Textile Museum of Canada on The Art Day Project – a series of lectures, workshops and displays being held at TMC from November 20 to 24, 2013, which promises to demystify the process of creating hand-knotted fair trade rugs and help celebrate 25 years of responsible rug making.  Learn more about how you can join in the fun at: http://bit.ly/1cfEVus.



Art Day has become a pillar of the creative process at Creative Matters.  On Art Day, our team comes together with a variety of mediums and inspirational materials to create artwork as jumping off point for new designs.  Our talented artists then transform their paintings and other hand-made creations on the computer where new concepts for floor and wall coverings are born.  





Learn more about the process here to see how the team creates in mediums beyond digital.  One Art Day project even had the whole team explore the art of glass blowing.  You can read about that experience here.






You can try out our Art Day process at the Textile Museum of Canada from November 20 to 24, 2013.


Art Day workshops will begin with a tutorial by Creative Matters designers that will walk you through the process.  Choose to take your design home or leave on display as part of the Art Day Display and rug design competition.  You’ll then be invited to join a lecture, entitled The Art Day Project, and finally the group will have an opportunity to view the TMC’s collection and Art Day Display.  Space is limited so please reserve your spot early. Visit here for more information on how to RSVP: http://bit.ly/1cAx36J.


 

Interested in learning more about fair trade practices and the process for making Tibetan hand-knotted fair-trade rugs? 
Join us on Wednesday November 20 at 6:30pm for a lecture, “Responsible Rug Making: The Fair Trade/Quality Connection” at the Textile Museum of Canada.  We will be joined by Reto Ashwanden from Label STEP, a company committed to improving the working conditions of carpet weavers and fights abusive child labour.  Creative Matters was one of the first carpet design and manufacturing companies to support the Label STEP initiative for a sustainable carpet industry in Nepal and to sign an accordant petition to the Nepali government.  Click here for more information and to reserve your spot: http://bit.ly/172LXLk.






Over the past few months on the blog we have introduced the Creative Matters staff in detail, (here here here and here) but our Art Day installation at the Textile Museum of Canada from November 20 to 24, 2013 will give you an opportunity to learn even more about each of us.  Photos of each staff member, bios, a description of their work and examples of their Art Day creations will be featured.  Here you’ll also get the chance to see samples of hand-knotted fair-trade rugs, raw materials like wool and tools, details of the weaving process, fair-trade practices, and, of course, some of the artwork creations from workshop participants.  Check out the TMC’s website for hours of operation, admission and directions at: www.textilemuseum.ca



 

Once we wrap up the events at TMC on November 24, there is an exciting next stage.  As with previous Art Days, the pieces from the Art Day workshops at TMC will be used to create computer-rendered designs.  Five rug designs will be selected and you will have an opportunity to vote online with Facebook for your favorite design.  Don’t forget to ‘like’ our Facebook page so you don’t miss any of the action!  The winning design and designers will be publicized and a one-of-a-king fair-trade rug will be created by Creative Matters and donated to Label STEP for their fundraising efforts.   
 





Stay tuned for more excitement as our 25th Anniversary celebrations unfold over the coming months, including regular updates about the making of our official 25th Anniversary The Art Day Project rug which we will chronicle on our blog, CMI: Narrative Threads.