textile – Mingei

In the Spotlight: The Artist Ioannis Stathoyiannis

admin — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 09:31:25 +0000

The team of Mingei Project visited the solo exhibition of the artist Ioannis Stathoyiannis. This exhibition was held last Summer (July 2021) in Heraklion city and stood out for two main reasons; both the concept of the idea and the space, where was hosted, were particularly innovative and impressive.

The concept of the Exhibition

The basic idea of the exhibition consists of presenting in public 84 artistic cushions from the “Is & Zhu Stathoyiannis collection” and highlighting the thematic dialoque developed between the digital artistic drawing by Ioannis Stathoyiannis (fabric printed) and the artworks of the visual artists participating in the exhibition.

The place of the Exhibition

It´s also worth noticing that experts and public are called to face a new challenge, since Ioannis Stathoyiannis´s exhibition hosted in one by definition non-museum use space, the Olympic Hotel. This situation highlights one of the groundbreaking trends of Postmodernism, and in particular, that which mentions signs-spaces of the wider urban environment as possible places of presentation cultural material, thus creating conditions of collective historical memory.

View of the 2nd thematic unit of the exhibition

The Exhibition and the Artist

Memories, feelings and testimonies compose the identity of the ‘Is & Zhu Stathoyiannis pillows. The digital artistic drawing of Ioannis Stathoyiannis (fabric printed) escapes the decorative spirit of applied arts, or even the spirit of social census or distancing. The digital drawing of Stathoyiannis, endowed with an experiential. Symbolic and conceptual dimension, takes art to the level of concepts, ideas and even emotions that leave their material imprint on the fabric, used as a kind of canvas and a field of artistic expression.
Based on his personal interest in fabrics and textiles, his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Design, Fine and Digital Arts) Universities of Central Lancashire & Wolver Hampton) guided by his memories and travel experiences in Europe, Asia, and America, thanks to his teaching experience in China (Raffles Education Corp. Singapore) and his depth knowledge of Chinese culture and mythology, Stathoyiannis “deals” in his artworks with concepts, such as Place, Presence, Being, Identity, Crisis by expressing his thoughts, and concerns for social issues such as racism, immigration,etc. In his digital drawing, nature plays a symbolic role. There are many references to the Cretan mythology symbols.

The digital pillow

The Collaboration with the Artists

In the framework of Ioannis Stathoyiannis´s personal exhibition an open invitation was sent to artists desiring to participate, using the fabric as the basic material of their artworks. The artists were thus invited to a conceptual interaction and to a synergy of high emotional intensity with Stathoyiannis´s digital drawing. In this exhibition, the particularity of expression and the variety of genres have been sought, according to the common objective of composing and exhibiting an artistic universe in dialogue. Works of painting and sculpture, artistic installations and constructions, animated sketches, works that combine textiles, drawing printed on fabric, fashion design, art photography, and poems make up an artistic universe of 21 plus 8 artists in conversation, dividing to four different thematic units in the exhibition.

Written by Argyro Petraki (FORTH), photography and video by Theodoros Evdemon (FORTH)

In the Spotlight: local Industry “Handmade Cretan Woven”

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 07:38:58 +0000

In the modern technologically dominated world, traditional arts and professions gradually tend to become extinct, as the vast majority of people prefer to purchase standardized goods offered at low prices rather than handmade ones. In contrast to this tendency, fortunately there are people and organizations that try to preserve the Cultural Heritage artifacts and the way in which they are created, making them accessible to the next generation. One such typical example is the local industry “Handmade Cretan Woven” situated in Alikarnassos on the island of Crete, Greece, which still creates handmade woven textiles on a traditional wooden loom.

The team of Mingei Project visited the local industry and interviewed the owner Mrs. Karli Irene. In the beginning, the industry started to create fine hand-woven textiles always on woven looms. Concurrently, they constructed wooden looms, which they sold. Thus, all the cottage industries were started by them. Nowadays, the owner still maintains this craftsmanship, putting warps and selling threads to few weavers that still exist.

Products, such as a mat and aprons woven in a traditional way

Since then, times have changed over the years, the development has made them study the market requirements and needs, and namely what is in high demand and what is more commercial in order to survive and to be competitive in the market. Consequently, they have started to create a variety of products that can be used by modern people, adjusting to their everyday needs. Specifically, at the moment they are producing wallets, purses, mats, aprons, and so on. All the products are made of 100 percent cotton and hand woven on the loom in a traditional way, contributing both to the preservation of this traditional job and to the strengthening of the local economy. Furthermore, at the instigation of the development association of women entrepreneurs of Crete, which often organizes exhibitions,the art of handicrafts is promoted. The industry also undertakes the equipment of hotels, weaving carpets, pillows, framed patterns and various other things in different patterns and colors, since they collaborate with interior designers.

To recapitulate, Mrs Irene Karli has succeeded in preserving a traditional job, which mainly flourished in the past, while at the same time she has tried to adjust it to the needs and requirements of modern societies, intertwining tradition with fashion.

Written by Argyro Petraki (FORTH), photography and video by Nikitas Michalakis (FORTH)

In the Spotlight: Women weavers from “Aretousa” Workshop

Xenophon Zabulis — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 09:53:07 +0000

In the modern technologically dominated world, traditional arts and professions gradually tend to become extinct, as the vast majority of people prefer to purchase standardized goods offered at low prices rather than handmade ones. In contrast to this tendency, fortunately there are people and organizations that try to preserve the Cultural Heritage artifacts and the way in which they are created, making them accessible to the next generation. One such typical example is the weaving workshop “Aretousa” situated near Archanes Village on the island of Crete, Greece.

Recycled clothes used as raw material

History of the workshop

The weaving workshop “Aretousa” was founded on the occasion of some women’s participation in a weaving seminar provided by the Municipality. After the seminar had been completed, some women, who wanted to move forward and utilize the acquired knowledge, came up with the idea to set up a Social Cooperative Enterprise and create hand woven textiles using traditional looms. The start of the workshop was difficult enough for them, since they had to look for traditional, old looms in many storage rooms, an effort that required a huge amount of time because most of them had been burnt or thrown away over the course of time. At last, having found enough looms, they decided to set them up again, giving them life and making use of them in order for the traditional weaving to be revived.

Products

At the instigation of the Development Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Crete and having studied the market requirements and needs, namely what is in high demand and is more commercial, they tried to produce weaving textiles in more modern designs so that they can be used in today’s modern societies. Using recycled clothes as the main raw material and preserving the tradition and the way our grandmothers used to weave, they construct more modern artifacts, such as laptop bags, mats, tablecloths, place mats, purses and various others that can be held by a modern woman or can be laid in modern homes. Some innovations in the field of weaving are also applied in the workshop; women are able to weave both double-sided carpets, which have different colours on the top and at the bottom, and double-width carpets, which means that a carpet of 80 cm can become 1.60 cm.

Weaving a double-sided mat

Mrs Andie, the cooperator of “Aretousa” Workshop

“Aretousa” Workshop collaborates with the craft instructor Mrs. Andie from the Netherlands, who teaches the women in various techniques of her homeland. As Mrs. Andie says: “What I admire is the way women here use the old looms and make textiles of such quality that does not exist in the Netherlands. The only thing that makes me sad is that the original, old wool we have at our disposal decreases. Thus, I would like to make wool from Cretan sheep and prepare it for the loom. Therefore, I try to wrap wool and I discovered that the Cretan one is very useful. Furthermore, it is crucial people be capable of distinguishing the good from the bad one. Unfortunately, the technical knowledge has died off over the years and now I am trying to discover it again.”

Mrs Andie, the craft instructor from the Netherlands

To recapitulate, the Social Cooperative Enterprise founded by women aware of the traditional way of weaving succeeded in preserving a traditional job, which mainly flourished in the past, by adjusting it to the needs and requirements of modern societies, intertwining tradition with fashion.

Written by Argyro Petraki (FORTH), photography and video by Nikitas Michalakis (FORTH)

In the Spotlight: weaving experts from CRETACOM

Meike Schipper — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 14:52:37 +0000

The weaving workshop of Crete, CRETACOM located in the Handicraft park of Anopolis is a family business, which dates back to ’80s. In the past, the main product of the workshop was the Cretan handmade weaving textile, which was then in its heyday. Nowadays, among others, kitchen towels, Hamman towels, and tablecloths in different patterns and colors are produced, connecting tradition with the needs of modern societies.

History of the business

The daughter of the family, Katerina Giannadaki, practically grew up in the midst of the weaving workshop. When she finished her studies she felt like this was her natural inclination, so she decided in agreement with her brother, Giorgos Giannadakis, to be practically involved in the workshop and develop it as much as they could. They took over the business and since times had changed over the years, they were called to study the market requirements and needs, hence what is in high demand, and what is more commercial.

Photo of the machines at CRETACOM

Products

The product that played a significant role at that time and to this day was the kitchen towel in different designs and patterns, which is called “Potiropano” in Greek. Αpart from the kitchen towel, considered the main product, they started to produce tablecloths in a more modern design and with more colors. For the past 4-5 years, the beach towel, as known as the Hammam towel, has been on the market, known to many as a ‘Turkish towel’ called peştemal, which is a bit wrong, because those who know about the Cretan weaving art, are well aware of the fact that there have always been towels like this in the Cretan houses. Thus, they seized this opportunity and started the production of the Cretan towel in modern colors and patterns, a necessary accessory for anyone on the beach.

Due to the fact that the products are Greek, meaning that they are more expensive than others, they tried to maintain their quality in order to be competitive in the market. In an effort to disseminate their products, they also participated in exhibitions in Athens, landing clients throughout Greece and abroad.

Photo of the machines at CRETACOM

Development of the business

Things have changed considerably since they relocated the business to the Handicraft park of Anopolis. By following the innovative technology they are better equipped then they used to be and they are able to supply embroidery machines that did even not exist in the business they inherited from their parents.

Through this purchase, they are now able to do all the embroidery themselves rather than outsource it like they use to do in the past. The business currently has 3 machines that produce kitchen towels; the daily production is at 500 to 600 pieces in 8 hours, depending on the day and the possible damages they may be faced with. Additionally, they manufacture Hamman towels, which daily production is around 200 towels now. At last, a machine produces about 50 to 80 meters of tablecloths per day depending on the design.

Therefore, the factory plant is slowly diversifying; the raw materials are only threads, they create the fabric, and are involved in the process of cutting, sewing, packaging and selling it. To recapitulate, Katerina and Giorgos succeeded to preserve a traditional job, which mainly flourished in the past, by adjusting it to the needs and requirements of modern societies, intertwining tradition with fashion.