Loop
“Everywhere it’s the same, and everywhere it’s different: two hands with five fingers each (and other body parts), and a continuous loop of string”
Over time, Garland is gathering a creative community across the Indo-Pacific. This page is where you can stay in the loop with updates from our Friends and Circle. See here if you would like to be featured in this Loop.
The Olojo Festival 2025: A sacred dawn of Yoruba heritage and unity in Ile-Ife - Emmanuel Solate writes about the Olojo Festival is a ten-day spiritual and cultural re-enactment of the Yoruba creation story that honors the progenitor Oduduwa, venerates Ogun (the god of iron), and culminates in the Ooni of Ife wearing the ancient Aare Crown to bless the Yoruba people worldwide.
For Whom the Tale’s Told: Tripping over reality in Udon Thani - Rudee Tancharoen presents three works that trouble the stories we tell ourselves.
Hurry Pottery ✿ The slow dance of nature - Diana Beklemesheva is inspired by the natural patterns visible in the flows of sand and fire.
Galbani: A bakery called life - Raquel Bessudo shares with us the beautiful traditions of Día de Muertos practised by Sara López Cruz in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Cinnamon Lee ✿ Noctua - We ask Cinnamon Lee about the origins of her award-winning lamp/jewel that honours the Bogong moth.
El Anatsui’s Rising Sea: Monumental architecture at human scale - Jessica Hemmings finds that El Anatsui's monumental textile sculpture holds its own amidst the architectural pride of the Bilbao Guggenheim.
Collected, prized, re-visioned: Donna Dinsdale’s textile sculptures - viv davy writes about a textile artist who draws on the material heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand to connect across generations.
The ABU Cultural Carnival: where Nigeria’s unity is woven in rhythm and colour - Emmanuel Solate guides us to the three-day festival in Kaduna, Nigeria, that embodies a youthful regeneration of cultural pride.
Welcome to a new craft: Artisanal software coding - The rise of "vibe coding" thanks to AI tools has prompted a counter-trend of manual programming, while hand-weaving is now embracing digital tools.
Sensitive Beings: A plainspoken dialogue on self and emotion - Qiao Zhang reflects on the exhibition she curated that seeks to touch our emotional being.
Virginia Keft ✿ Pinampi madjam guruwa dja (Remember the flying fox in the gum tree) - Our October laurel, Virginia Keft, creates fibre works that honour the grey-headed flying fox, whose colonies reflect the link between ecology and culture.
Museum of Modern Craft (MoMC) - A new space dedicated to collecting beautifully made craft is emerging in Melbourne.
Meeras Pavilion: A celebration of Rohingya culture - A celebration of Rohingya culture draws on the story of the taro leaf as a way to meet the challenge of sustaining a culture while stateless.
Kolet: Ceramics unbound in Iran - Atefe Mirsane reports on a unique event to foster monumental ceramics in Iran.
Snake Talk Online launch - You are welcome to yarn about the journey of Snake Talk, a book by Tyson Yunkaporta and Megan Kelleher.
Beyond the artefact: A conversation about craft in Africa - Join the Knowledge House for Craft in to share different perspectives on what craft means in Africa today. An online conversation in the Knowledge House for Craft on 21 October 10:00 GMT The Knowledge House for Craft is a place for appreciating the diversity of meanings and values attached to what we make by hand. […]
Tony Rice ✿ Insect kites - This spring, Tony Rice awakens Meanjin (Brisbane) residents to the Japanese tradition of flying insect kites.
Towards a future bioculturalism - There are crafts today that continue to use materials from nature that are considered endangered. How do we balance the competing needs of culture and nature?
The spirit of the Zaria Rebels and the new African museum - Augustina Boateng writes about a generation of printmakers, including Dr Kunle Adeyemi, whose confidence is reflected in a new confident generation of African museums.
Khous-doozi of Hormozgan: The shining art of southern women - Sanaz Nataj's new collection features shimmering, fine embroidery applied to today's fashion.
For earlier posts, see here.