Update

                 

The exciting tapestry event, Project BaaBaa scheduled for May 2020 in Galway Ireland, has been postponed to May 2021. The exact dates will be determined later. To refresh your memory,  three tapestry workshops are being offered by five tapestry artists...four from the UK - Joan Baxter, John Brennan & Elizabeth Radcliffe, and Clare Coyle will be assisting me the workshop I'll be offering. The exhibitions will feature dozens of tapestry weavers from around the world: France, Australia, Ireland, Scotland to name a few. I am hoping I will see many of you there. If you have any questions contact projectbaabaa@gmail.com.

507 people from forty-two countries have contributed 842 shapes to the installation to date. The installation continues to accept submissions on an ongoing basis. Various materials and techniques have been used to create these forms – tapestry, crochet, knitting, lace, felt, paper, basketry, embroidery, quilting and various other textile construction methods. Each piece is presented on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with the person’s name and any other information they would like me to include, such as their website, or thoughts they have about the project. Alternatively, they sometimes talk about what’s going on in their lives. If you've already made a submission, please check to make sure your name has been recorded on the web page for the project

Donna Kim, Aruna Reddy, and Agota Dolinay

Fate, Destiny and Self Determination (aka FDSD) was first launched at the end of 2013. To date, the installation has been exhibited in the following galleries, museums and sites: Craft Ontario in Toronto, Canada; the Montreal Centre for Contemporary Textiles, Galerie Trames, Canada: Regis University in Denver, Colorado, USA; the Craft Council of British Columbia, Canada (March 2016); China (From Beijing to Lausanne 2016) and at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles as part of the American Tapestry Alliance Biennial 11 (2017); at the Centre D’Action Culturelle de la MLC de Papineau in Quebec, Canada (2017); World Textile Art Biennial in Uruguay (2017); World of Threads in Oakville, Ontario, Canada (2016); the Roscommon County Council in Roscommon Ireland (2018);  the Tuchmacher Museum in Bramsche and the  Tuch + Technik Textilmuseum in Neumunster, both in Germany (2018). The installation continues to accept invitations to exhibit it. If there is a gallery or museum in your area please let me know.

The following magazines, some hard copy, others online, have featured the installation. Just recently, Dorothe Swinkels in the Netherlands wrote an article for Textiel Plus, an online magazine  which you can access here Textiel Plus. Articles have also appeared in Artapestry 4 and 5; FiberArtNow; British Tapestry Group’s Tapestry Weaver; HandEye Magazine; Rapporter, a Danish magazine; Fibre Focus in Ontario, Canada ; American Tapestry Alliance; Canadian Tapestry Network and Trameros, in Argentina.

Debbie Harris, Sandi Dunn, Darlene Haywood, Jutta Polomski and Patti Wibe

There are many people to thank for all these amazing opportunities without whom none of this great list of accomplishments would have happened. I would like to name a few of them here:  Agotha Dolinay, Susan Middleton, Janna Hiemstra, Aruna Reddy, Emma Jo Webster, Louise Lemieux Berube, Suzanne Chabot, Aneesha Parrone, Barbara Heller, Monique Lehman, Krystyna Sadej, Joe Lewis, Kelly Liang, Deborah Corsini, Nancy Bavor, Patricia Jordan, Rebecca Mezoff, the American Tapestry Alliance, Thoma Ewen, Emilie Laverdiere, Catherine Lacroix, Pilar Tobon, Maria Ortega, Gabriela Nirino, Frances Crowe, Christa Weitbrecht, Gracia Cutuli, Ulrikka Mokdad, Astrid Frevert  and Anet Brusgaard. Not to mention all the people that helped with installation…..dozens of people in each place who did it voluntarily. Many people contributed to the GoFundMe campaign without which the installation would not have been able to go to China and Uruguay. Forgive me if your name does not appear here but know that we all owe you a debt of gratitude for what has been, and hopefully will continue to be, a great textile art adventure! 

Louise Lemieux Berube