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.
Photo source: http://www.label-step.org/en/home/?L=94
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.
Photo source: http://www.label-step.org/en/home/?L=94
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.
