Closer to Nature

On Fibre Optic Weaving and the Archiving of Landscape

In this film and interview by Ingun Mæhlum and Hilde Sørstrøm, artist Hilde Hauan Johnsen shares the background to her interest in plant dyeing and ancient weaving techniques, and for plant life around the world. Through her method of foraging plants and creating dyes, Hilde Hauan Johnsen’s artworks become archives of specific landscapes.

Returning the Long Silent Voices of Our Treasures to the World of Light

In this text, Tāmihana Kātene (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Koata, Te Taoū - Ngāti Whātua) talks about his dedication to taonga puoro, and how he, through pūrākau, research, and deep dives into archival collections, is bringing these historical objects back into the cultural practices of his people.

Winona's Hemp

Follow publisher, editor and writer Dorothée Perret and artist Oscar Tuazon on their journey to Winona LaDuke’s Hemp & Heritage Farm on the White Earth Nation, Gaa-waabaabiganikaag in northern Minnesota, where LaDuke is working to restore traditional agriculture and create a new local economy of fiber production.

Moving Away as Moving Towards

Adam Curtis explores the pastoral lifestyles of designers Anne Karine Thorbjørnsen, Ramona Salo, Tone Elisabeth Bjerkaas, Siv Støldal, and Harald Lunde Helgesen and their decision to move away, while at the same time moving towards new ways of being and practicing.

Can Textile Craft Help Restore Planetary Health?

Can crafting textiles become an act of care? Professor Carole Collet takes a closer look at how regenerative textile practices can aid in our current planetary emergency. The essay explores new ways of shifting the agency of textile craft from nature-using to nature-restoring, and embraces a new mindset where the practice of craft is orchestrated to replenish the natural world.

Co-Culturing: Crafting the Living

The two designers Linda Nurk and Faber Futures’ founder Natsai Audrey Chieza discuss their experiences of collaborating with living organisms in a design and making process; the role of designers within the bio-tech industry; notions of scale and mass-production as well as the role craft can play in proposing a different version of scale-up.

Wānangatia Te Wahakura

In this extensive text by kairaranga (weaver) Tanya White we are introduced to the wahakura, a woven bassinet for infants made from harakeke, a native plant of Aotearoa New Zealand. The wahakura are vessels of wellbeing, providing safe sleeping spaces for small children. The article presents a case study of raranga wahakura (the practice of making a woven bassinet). It is an articulation of raranga (weaving) epistemology from a weaver’s perspective.

Texture of Practice: Dorothy Waetford

Whakapapa is a Māori framework that places us within the world. It encompasses all relationships we experience and guides our knowledge and connection to whānau (family), hītori (history), tikanga (customs) and philosophies. In this presentation by artist Dorothy Waetford we are introduced to the whakapapa of her practice and how it is informed by her background as a dancer, and her local surroundings and whānau (family).

Texture of Practice: Raukura Turei

Whakapapa is a Māori framework that places us within the world. It encompasses all relationships we experience and guides our knowledge and connection to whānau (family), hītori (history), tikanga (customs) and philosophies. In this presentation by Raukura Turei we are introduced to the whakapapa of her practice, and how the materials she uses in her work connects her both to her tīpuna (ancestors) and the whenua (land).

The Landscapes Within: Monika Svonni

Monika Svonni is a multi-disciplinary artist living in Jåhkåmåhkke. Her oeuvre consists mainly of textile collages incorporating pewter thread embroidery and reindeer hide, but she also works with wood carvings and sculpture in a variety of materials. In this interview by editor and artist Carola Grahn, we are given an introduction to Monika Svonni’s work, which has been produced over many years, as well as to her outlook on life and art.

Texture of Practice: Areta Wilkinson

Whakapapa is a Māori framework that places us within the world. It encompasses all relationships we experience and guides our knowledge and connection to whānau (family), hītori (history), tikanga (customs) and philosophies. In this presentation by artist and jeweller Areta Wilkinson we are introduced to her practice and how reconnecting with her ancestral kāinga (home) has meant connections to deeper material knowledge and understanding.