Lenore G. Tawney/TSA Keynote Address
Thursday September 20th, 8:15 am – 10:00 am
Meghann O’Brien, “Threads That Do Not Break”
Drawing from her personal immersion in the concept of the “deep local,” Meghann O’Brien presents her reinterpretation of a living body of knowledge that has been built through time spent on the land and study with traditional teachers. After a decade of following strict protocols of ceremonial weaving, she is excited to share a point of change in understanding as the depth of knowledge that this practice has offered stretches to transform and occupy twentieth-century space. One part recognition and reverence for ancestors and the survival of indigenous teachings, and one part excitement and enthusiasm for the potential of the future, she pulls forward strands of the past into tangible pieces that can be reworked and made relevant and whole for the globalized world of today.
Biography:
Meghann O’Brien (b. 1982) is a Northwest Coast weaver from the community of Alert Bay, BC. Her innovative approach to the traditional artforms of basketry, Yeil Koowu (Raven’s Tail) and Naaxiin (Chilkat) textiles connects to the rhythms and patterns of the natural world, and creates a continuity between herself and her ancestors. O’Brien, who left the field of professional snowboarding to work fulltime as a weaver in 2010, employs materials such as hand-spun mountain goat wool and cedar bark in her meticulous weavings and baskets. She has apprenticed with master weavers Kerri Dick, Sherri Dick, and William White. Meghann now lives in Vancouver, B.C, and is currently exploring the intersection of indigenous materials and techniques with the world of fashion. She travels globally to lecture and demonstrate, yet emphasizes the value of contributing to the contemporary ceremonial practices of the Haida and Kwakwakw’wakw people.
Closing Plenary Address
Saturday, September 22nd, 3:30 – 5:00 pm
Charllotte Kwon, “Weavers Without Borders: The Fabric of Trade”
For over thirty years Charllotte Kwon and her company Maiwa Handprints Ltd. (founded in 1986) have championed textiles, ethical trade, and cultural awareness. Maiwa supports traditional craft through an ethical business model and collaborates with artisans to improve their social and economic situations. Her approach encourages and promotes independence and sustainability in the craft sector, and actively supports safe and ecologically sustainable practices to improve and maintain the health of artisans and their environment. Charllotte’s internationally focused perspective and scope of activity contribute directly to the worldwide craft community through furthering relationships between local craftspeople, master artisans, and leaders in the field of textiles; advancing craft education at home and abroad; and promoting craft to consumers. She has consistently advocated that this is a holistic philosophy – a fabric woven from interdependent goals. In this wide ranging and provocative talk Charllotte will draw on a lifetime’s experience working with artisans and handcraft to show how slowing production can bring meaning back into the life of cloth and enrich our lives in the process.
Biography:
Charllotte Kwon is the owner of Maiwa Handprints Ltd. and the director of the Maiwa Foundation. Through Maiwa, Charllotte also runs a textile archive and research library located on Granville Island in Vancouver, Canada. Under her direction, Maiwa has produced four documentary films and a number of print publications. She also guides Maiwa’s substantial web presence. Charllotte travels extensively each year to research handcraft and to supplement her natural dye research. Always looking to extend natural dye use, she also teaches dyeing workshops with artisans around the world and has planned a series of natural dye master classes to bring exceptional practicing artisans together. In 2014 she was awarded an Honourary Doctorate of Letters from the University of the Fraser Valley for her work in promoting the continuation of traditional textile techniques and cultures. In 2017 Charllotte was awarded the Robert Jekyll Award for Leadership in Craft (Canada). That same year, she was an organizer for the Indigo Sutra Conference in Kolkata, India.
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