#FibraResidency Print Show

Fibra examines the questions: ‘hat role does artisanal textile work have at the heart of a community? How do globalisation and freedom of movement change our perceptions in relation to traditions?Does it affect the preservation of crafts and the sustainability of these practices?

Fibra is an itinerant and research project created by Mia Pfeifer with a focus on exploring and examine the importance of textile traditions in local communities. We invite a selection of UK-based artists whose practices are concerned with an experimental and fine art approach to fibers, understanding textiles as a metaphor for knitting ideas, concepts, interlacing traditions to our everyday lives. They are invited to reflect on the questions at the heart of our project and to integrate this into their work.

We will be collaborating with two indigenous communities based in Colombia, for whom the preservation of ancient skills in the working of fibers has been passed from generation to generation. Most of Colombia’s rural communities and tribes consider natural fibers to be the core, indispensable element of their social structure. The spectrum of everyday uses includes wearable fabrics such as carrier bags either for personal items or for agricultural produce, as hunting traps, and in the domestic space, amongst other uses. These objects are carriers of the communities’ myths and beliefs. The very structure and process of textiles have an intrinsic relationship to cultural customs and the social fabric of these communities.