The 7th international exhibition on textile art
SCYTHIA Kherson Ukraine
Local Lore Museum, Kherson, Ukraine
The 7th International Exhibition/Competition (juried) on Contemporary Textile Art tok place in Kherson, Ukraine, June 18-22, 2008. The art works of 56 artists from 21 countries were selected: Belgium (4), Bulgaria (1), Denmark (1), Finland (1), France (1), Indonesia (2), Italy (2), Japan (6), Kazakstan (1), Lithunia (2), Nigeria (1), The Netherlands (1), Peru (1), Poland (2), Slovakia (1), Switzerland (2), Thailand (1), Turkey (5), Ukraine (14), United Kingdom (5) and USA (2) .
The Organizers: ETN members - Ludmila Egorova and Andrew Schneider, initators of the Black Sea Mediterranean Sea textile co-operation.
Participants:
Iyiola Musibau AKIN, Fatma Engin ALPAT, Cafer ARSLAN, Simonetta BATTOIA, BETTYDEPARIS, Tetiana BOGACHUK, Cigdem CINI, Virginija DEGENIENE, Helene De RIDDER, Gulshat DJURAEVA, Violette DOCLO, Rita ESPOSITO, Alexander FEDORENKO, Valeria FIONIK, Irvna FOMINA, Ursula GERBER-SENGER, Maria Romana GIERCZYNCKA, Emilija GREKOVA, Natalia GREKOVA, Birgitta HALLBERG, Zuzana HROMADOVA, Mami IDEI, Kakuko ISHII, Agniete JANUSAITE, Elisabeth JOBIN-SANGLARD, Alexander KHOMENKO, Krassimira KIRILOVA, Diana KMIT, Maire KOIVISTO, Maximo LAURA TABOADA, Monika LOSTER, AoifeLUDLOW, Kazuhito MAEKAWA,John MARTONO, Emma McCLINTOCK, Veronika MON, Ganna MOROZOVA, Tomi NINOMIYA, Wil Opio OGUTA, Heather Joy RIGGS, Andrew SCHNEIDER, Esther SERPIONOVA, Olena SHUMILlNA, Tiarma SIRAlT, Annelies SLABBYNSK, Sitthichai SMANCHAT, Marv Ruth SMITH, Lvnn SURES, Ayten SURUR, Toshie TAKAHASI, Kyoko UEDA, Ozcan UZKUR, Dorotea VAN DE WINKEL, Dorothy WEDDERBURN, Kate WELLS, Neonila YANCHUKOVA.
Awards:
First Award/ Big Silver Medal: Olena SHUMILINA
Second Award/ Silver Medal: Maximo LAURA TABOADA
Second Award/ Silver Medal: Mary Ruth SMITH
Third Award/ Bronze Medal: Kyoko YEDA
The 8th international Symposium on Textile Art
"SCTHIA 8"
Will take place in Kherson in June 2010
7th 'SCYTHIA' INTL. SYMPOSIUM OF TEXTILE ART
© TextileForum 3/2008
Monica Loster/NL
www.anschnei.public.kherson,ua.
Readers may recall our special issue themed "South East Europe" (TF 1/96), published to draw attention to the region's textile cultural situation in the run-up to the 1996 ETN Conference in Kherson, co-organised by Ludmila and Andrew. In TF 3/96 we featured comprehensive reports on our experiences in Kherson. With hindsight, the Kherson meeting, which attracted participants from the Black Sea states, including Moldavia and Armenia but not Russia or Turkey, and the "West" - Spain, France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Canada and the USA - was a magic moment in the history of ETN. Since then, most Europeans appear to have focused only on EU member states. Ukraine lies beyond, behind what our professional colleagues over there see as the new economic Iron Curtain. People like Monica Loster can be considered a new kind of pioneer, ensuring that our links with those countries, currently tenuous, are not severed altogether. This is her report:
I had the opportunity of attending the 7th "Scythia" international symposium and textile art exhibition in Kherson from 18th to 22nd June of this year. It was organised by art historian Ludmila Egorova and artist Andrew Schneider, who both put heart and soul into the event.
The exhibition united a great variety of high-quality textile work from all over the world. New technologies played a role, but all other textile techniques were represented as well: tapestry, batik, quilt/patchwork, felt, and crochet were shown side by side with digital embroidery, 3D textiles, etc.
Art objects produced with new textile techniques were fascinating for their design and texture, and had amazing charisma. One of the finest examples was a highly interesting piece of polyester film on organza by Kate Wells/U K. Aoife Ludlow/UK presented laser-cut objects and engraved paper. Emma McClintock works with seaweed, nylon paper and laser cutting techniques. Japanese artists also offered fantastic pieces, including Kyoko Ueda, who won 3rd prize, and Kazushito Mackawa, Tomi Ninomiya, Mami Idei, Toshie Takahasi and Kakuko Ishii. One highly inventive example was the piece by Mary Ruth Smith/USA, produced in quilting technique with Korean maleobakki seams.
Tapestries were striking for their excellent use of colour and the makers' obvious mastery of technique. Maximo Laura Taboada, who travelled to Kherson spccially from Peru, shared 2nd prize for his tapestry with Mary Ruth Smith for her quilts. Other remarkable examples were the tapestries by Birgitta Hallberg/OK and Alexander Khomenko/UKR. Visitors were particularly impressed by the perfect execution of patchwork/quilt pieces, resulting in Olena Shumilina/ UKR being awarded 1st prize for "St. Barbara", Other convincing examples were those by Valerie Fionik/UKR, Ayten Sürür/TR, and Tetiana Bogachuk, Irina Fomina and Emilia Gzekova/all UKR.
The exhibition was only one element of the gathering. A lively cultural and technological exchange involving art critics, curators, and lecturers of art and design also took place, naturally with contributions by textile artists. There were daily sessions of lectures, photo presentations and slide shows. Themes discussed included new technologies as well as the origins of traditional textile art, hand-woven fabrics and embroideries, which are an integral part of Ukrainian culture. Other attractions, and fun too, were the masterclasses given over several days by Gulshat Djuraeva from Kasakhstan and Andrew Schneider.
Participants were also invited to attend , a fashion show presenting clothes made of Nuno felt, Arashi shirts by Anastasia and Andrew Schneider, knitted clothing decorated with Slavic and Scythian designs by Maria Chapenkova and Mariana Abikulova, and quilted waistcoats by Emilia Grekova and Olena Schumilina.
The hosts, Ludmila and Andrew, held excursions to Scythian and Sarmatian cultural sites, guided us through Kherson, and celebrated traditional Greek and Scythian wine tastings. Such occasions should never be missed!
My first trip to Ukraine was a thoroughly positive experiencc, and the "Scythia" event is well worth a visit. You should allow enough time to travel to Odessa and the Crimean too; regrettably, I was only there for four days and missed out on that plcasure. •
© TextileForum 3/2008
Monica Loster (e-mail:lostyposty at yahoo.com)
