The Open West 2014 : Call for entries
The Open West is an annual open competition and exhibition inviting work from national and international artists practising contemporary and conceptual art. Work submitted can include Textile, painting, installation, film and sound, photography, ceramics, print, drawing, performance, sculpture, glass, metal and plastics.
Following the success of the 2013 programme, the open west 2014 will be held in the main galleries of The Wilson, the newly opened contemporary museum and art gallery in Cheltenham.
Up to 40 artists will be included in the exhibition, each with the possibility of showing more than one work. the open west 2014 will offer an opportunity for artists to participate in an education programme; residencies; workshops and a day of artists in conversation. A catalogue is published each year.
Three award winners will each be offered £500
2014 selection panel – curators Lyn Cluer Coleman and Sarah Goodwin, together with Anita Taylor and Virgile Ittah
The Wilson | Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum
Deadline: 10th Feb 2014
Exhibition: 3rd May – 1st June 2014
Artists whose work is selected for exhibition will be notified by Wednesday 19 February 2013
To apply Application Form:
Deirdre Wood: Peter Collingwood Trust Award Winner 2013
UK weaver Deirdre Wood is this year’s winner of the Peter Collingwood Trust Prize for the most innovative loom based textile. Founded in memory of one of Britain’s most celebrated weavers, this national award was given in recognition of Deirdre’s unique and inventive circular weaving technique that she uses to create woven rings and discs.
Deirdre, who has lived and worked in Winchester for almost thirty years, works as a hand-weaver and dyer creating abstract architectural tapestries using silk, linen, cotton and wool. The new approach to weaving she has devised uses the contrasting properties of linen and silk to create rings and discs. Although the cloth is woven straight, it becomes dramatically curved when cut from the loom and treated by finishing processes.
Strip woven fabric has long been a fascination for Deirdre and on winning the Clothworker’s Travel Award from the Royal Society of Arts, while a student in 1996, she travelled to Mali, West Africa, to study Bogolanfini and indigo textiles produced by the Bamana and Dogon tribespeople. These cloths are strip-woven on simple back-strap looms.
Earlier this year Deirdre was one of three textile artists selected to represent the UK at the 14th Triennial of Tapestry in Poland. After her woven rings were exhibited at the Royal Society of Arts, London, they travelled to Poland where they are now displayed at the Central Museum of Textiles in Lodz, until Nov. 3rd 2013. Deidre Wood website
Juried Exhibition: Complexity 2014 – call for entries
Complex Weavers announces its biennial international juried exhibition ‘Complexity 2014’ featuring works employing complex weave structures interlacing threads and fibers in ways beyond plain weave.
Complex weaving is defined by the cloth produced and the mind it took to create it, not by the equipment used. There is no requirement that the work must be woven on a minimum number of shafts or on a Jacquard loom. Works with historic inspiration and interpretations, as well as non-loom interlacements such as ply split braiding, kumihimo and tablet weaving are welcome.
Eligibility: All Complex Weavers members and students at accredited colleges and universities may submit entries. Non-member artists may join Complex Weavers www.complex-weavers.org by the submission date and submit entries. Students must provide proof of full-time current registration. Students are not required to be members of Complex Weavers. All entries will be evaluated by three jurors.
Each artist may submit three works. All work must be original, not executed under supervision and completed after July, 2012. Weight of each work must not exceed 25 lbs (11.4 kg) including hanging and display hardware per work.
Submissions must not have been previously published in any printed publication or national exhibit prior to submission. Accepted works must remain for the duration of the exhibit (August 1, 2014).
The exhibition: Complexity 2014 will travel to three locations in 2014: University of Nebraska, Lincoln NE, Hotel Murano, Tacoma WA and Brown University, Providence RI. Entry is easy via email and review fees may be paid through PayPal.
Entry deadline is November 18, 2013. Entry Form is available here
Continue reading →
BITA: The Emerging Talent Award
The British Interior Textiles  Association
You are invited to enter the Emerging Talent Award competition, set up to identify the most talented furnishing fabric designers of the year, who are still completing a degree in surface pattern or textile design or have completed their degree or have already commenced work in the industry within the last 3 years. The award will be presented at the BITA September Showcase, 5 – 22th September 2013. www.interiortextiles.co.uk
Prizes.
The first place winner will receive £1,000 and a week’s placement in the design studio at Prestigious Textiles – one of the UK’s top furnishing brands.
Second place winner will receive £500
Third place winner will receive £250
The prizes will be presented during the BITA SEPTEMBER SHOWCASE at one of the 7 venues by the judges and Vice Chairman of Bita – Diane Harding.
The winners will have their work exhibited at the show along with the work of up to 10 short-listed designers. Other benefits will include free publicity and exposure to the industry via the trade media. Deadline: Wednesday July 31st 2013. Continue reading →
GoodWeave student rug design competition
The GoodWeave Student Rug Design Competition deadline is fast approaching, all entries need to be in by 17th May 2013. This year the theme is ‘Interpreting Fashion’ and the brief has been developed by Roger Oates, the acclaimed flooring designer.
This is the sixth time this prestigious competition has run and is sponsored by WovenGround and Jacaranda Carpets; both are GoodWeave Partners and active supporters of the work that GoodWeave does internationally to eradicate the exploitation of children in the production of rugs.
The competition is open to full-time, UK design students, aged 18 or over where the winning students will be given the opportunity to promote their talents and the winner will also receive a £300 design fee. The winning designs will be exhibited at Decorex International, the leading interior design exhibition in London, in September – a fabulous opportunity for students to experience the commercial design world.
The judges this year include the designer Ella Doran, flooring designer Roger Oates and design journalist Katrina Burroughs.
The GoodWeave Rug design Competition attracts significant media coverage and in 2011 the winner successfully launched her freelance career following her success in the competition.
Full details for the competition are available to download from the GoodWeave website. Please download the brief, competition rules and an entry form. Continue reading →