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Press Release - Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
Come out to the Friendly Town of Almonte on September 9th and 10th for the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum’s 28th Annual Fibrefest! Taking place at two locations; the Almonte Community Centre and the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, admission to Fibrefest is $8.00 per day and grants access to both sites. Local guilds will demonstrate spinning, knitting, weaving, rug-hooking, lacemaking, smocking, and quilting, while our vendors will be selling finished fibre goods and textile supplies from across the province, including quilt shops and alpaca farms.
This year, several hands-on workshops and exhibitions will be taking place alongside Fibrefest! This is your chance to roll up your sleeves and get felting, weaving, or rug-hooking with talented artists. Workshops will be Wednesday through Sunday (September 6–10) at both the Community Centre and Museum. Registration fees for workshops include free admission to the festival. Advance registration is required, and some workshops may require that you bring your own supplies, so make sure to check our website and sign up early to avoid disappointment!
“Our community is so looking forward to Fibrefest and all of the vendors and visitors that it brings to town. It’s a great opportunity for local businesses and artisans to promote their materials, and for the community to come together and celebrate the town’s wonderful textile history," stated Michael Rikley-Lancaster, Executive Director/Curator, Mississippi Valley Textile Museum.
Fibrefest’s featured artist is acclaimed producer, puppeteer, and Order of Canada recipient Noreen Young, who has been gracing television screens with her creations since the 1960s, including classics such as “Hi Diddle Day” and “Under the Umbrella Tree”. Her puppet characters have appeared in “Sesame Park,” "Readalong,” and “Téléfrançais!” and she received three Gemini Award nominations for her achievements in Canadian television. In 2005, she founded Puppets Up!, a festival that took place in Mississippi Mills for 12 years. Fibrefest is excited to bring her talent and imagination to our festival of fibre arts!
During the two-day festival, explore the permanent history exhibit Material World on the Mississippi at the Museum, which takes you through the process of wool fibres becoming a piece of finished cloth. It includes the industrial machines used throughout the process, as well firsthand accounts of working in a textile mill. Our featured exhibits during Fibrefest this year are Among the Garbage and the Flowers and Post Up. Among the Garbage and the Flowers is curated by Susan Avishai and demonstrates how 11 women artists reimagine and redefine cast-off textiles and old clothing. Through artistic reuse, they tangibly demonstrate the dignity of labour, respect for materials, and a greater understanding of the creative process. The exhibit features the art of Susan Avishai, Carole Baillargeon, Sonia Jacyk-Bukata, Judy Martin, Amy Meissner, Liz Pead, Leisa Rich, Melanie Siegel, Sandra Smirle, Judith Tinkl, and Alice Vander Vennen.
Post Up is an exhibit by artist and athlete Mallory Tolcher, sponsored by the Municipality of Mississippi Mills as part of their Bicentennial Celebrations. Tolcher is interested in challenging societal norms and redefining femininity within the traditionally male-dominated realm of sport.
Through a series of textiles installed on metal rims and wooden backboards, Post Up reimagines the conventional basketball net through the intricate and domestic medium of crocheted lace. By integrating this traditionally feminine practice into the hyper-masculine sport of basketball, Tolcher aims to confront ingrained perceptions of athletics, subvert the confined definition of softness in such contexts, and emphasize the power and strength that lies within femininity.
Please visit our website for additional information: http://almontefibrefest.ca.
