DWN’s Anita visits China Academy of Art for Workshop
by admin
Sometime last year, Professor Tutu Jiang from the Textile Design Department of the School of Fashion Design at the China Academy of Art (CAA) wrote to us, asking for a workshop on “Weaving Fashion Fabrics”. They have a TC2 loom at the CAA and the goal of the Workshop was to be able to introduce to the students the possibilities that the loom offers.
To us, Digital Weaving Norway’s Representative Anita Michaluszko – with her background in creating fashion garments and her thorough knowledge about weaving and the TC2 loom – was the perfect candidate to conduct this workshop! In late-November, Anita traveled to Hangzhou, China, to conduct the Workshop at CAA; below, she gives us a recap of her experiences during her stay there… 
The Academy moved to a new campus recently, and since then, they had hardly used their TC2 loom. But right before the Workshop took place, the loom was upgraded with additional modules and a beautiful white silk warp was set up. During the Workshop, a variety of basic and advanced weaving techniques were explored, including Fil Coupé (French for Cut threads), which involves an extra step of cutting weft thread at the front or back of the woven fabric.
A mixed group of teachers and students attended the training Workshop. In the picture below, you see Professor Tutu Jiang (on the left) and our Anita/me (on the right) holding shuttles. On each of the workshop days, a different weaving technique was introduced to the participants, and they took turns trying these out on the loom.
Apart from the one TC2 at the Fashion Department at CAA, there are two more TC2s in the city of Hangzhou – at the Fiber Art department, which is another campus of CAA. Below, you see Professor Jiachen Liu, who manages the Digital Fiber Lab at the Fiber Art department, standing in front of the daily TC2 planning board. Their weaving curriculum places a strong emphasis on material and medium exploration – from the standpoint of Art. Jiachen is also a fiber artist and is soon set to publish her book on TC2 Digital Weaving, the first of its kind in Chinese.
The Fiber Art department regularly invites international artists to share their knowledge on weaving and textiles. In the picture below, a student shows his artwork made during the one of the workshops. The glove is translated as double weave and is cut open, so one can actually insert a hand in there.
The Róng Design Library, situated on the countryside, outside the city of Hangzhou, showcases an amazing collection of Chinese traditional crafts and related materials. Furthermore, it offers a platform and a residence program to deconstruct crafts, analyze materials and create contemporary designs.
An entire department at the Library is dedicated to weaving alone – it documents the different weave structures and weaving techniques, including the advanced Chinese damask and brocading techniques.
Hangzhou, with its rich cultural heritage and silk history, is truly worth a visit! Not to be missed are the Lingyin Temple and the Silk Museum showing China’s rich heritage in complex figurative woven silk fabrics.
Special Thanks to professor Tutu Jiang and the Students Mengjie Zhang and Ruoyi Zhong, for making the stay so rich and enjoyable!
Links:
https://en.caa.edu.cn/
https://www.ronglibrary.com/en
https://www.chinasilkmuseum.com/index_en.aspx
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