Creating a Connected Textile Community
Continuing Textile Traditions: Ukraine was a special program to raise relief funds for Ukraine. WARP hosted Ukrainian textile artists Halyna Shepko (New York), Daryna Alieksieienko (Kyiv), and Yaroslava Tkachuk (Lviv) for a discussion about their work within the Ukrainian weaving traditions.
Representing cultures spanning millennia and a significant part of the globe, the speakers on Continuing Textile Traditions of the Arab World told us of the richness of Arab culture as shown through its textiles.
Kelsey Wiskirchen is WARP’s Executive Director, and a textile artist, working primarily in embroidery, natural dyeing, and quilting.
The presenters on this panel discussion work with women-led groups, indigenous and Ladina, rural and city, small and large. Their work includes weaving, embroidering, and sewing, among other artistic endeavors, and their programs have social elements geared toward achieving a sustainable livelihood for the women and their families.
Rocío Mena Gutierrez is a WARP member from Mexico City. Through her brand ZIKURI, Rocío unites her two passions: natural dyeing education and designing bags. Her purpose is to inspire by achieving beautiful colors and by making us aware of the processes involved so that we can feel the connection with the materials and the essence of things.
A Sheep’s Tale: Preserving the Churro featured speakers who have devoted their work to conservation of the Navajo-Churro sheep. You are invited to watch the program recording to learn about the importance of this heritage sheep breed to communities in the American Southwest.
Judy Newland is a retired faculty in museum anthropology at Arizona State University and served as the Director for the ASU Museum of Anthropology. She has worked in the museum field for over 20 years at a variety of university museums, creating more than 100 exhibitions with the help of her students.
This panel showcased museums whose focus is on indigenous textiles and the communities who produce them. The presenters, including weavers, writers, and curators, represent a diverse range of backgrounds.