Saturday, July 12, 2014

My Scarves@2014 Scarf Festival
"Urban Artscape" Pashminas
Wearable Art

Marie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
On this blog spot there are posts that center on my “Wearable Art” (e.g. scarves, digital or analogue created fabric lengths etc.) For your convenience I have listed these posts below.
A Selection of My Scarves
Leaves Transformed: A New Collection of My Digitally Designed Fabrics
My New Silk Rayon Velvet Scarves@Purple Noon Art And Sculpture Gallery
My Fabric Lengths@QSDS
My Fabric Collection:"Oh, Oh Marilyn and Mona!"@Spoonflower
2013 Australian Craft Awards – Finalist
My Scarves@2014 Scarf Festival: "Urban Artscape" Pashminas
My New Scarves and Fabric Lengths
New Range of Silk Neckties - Karma and Akash
AIVA: My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
New Colorways For My 'Cultural Graffiti' Fabrics
Byzantine Glow: A New Collection of My Digitally Designed Fabrics
Wall Flower: A New Collection of My Digitally Designed Fabrics
Ink Fern - A New Collection of My Digitally Designed Fabrics
Celebratory Fireworks
My New Silk ArtCloth Scarves
New ‘Unique State’ Silk ArtCloth Scarves
UBIRR - My New Hand Dyed & Printed Fabric Design
Renaissance Man - My New Hand Dyed & Printed Fabric Design
Banksia - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
Ginkgo Love - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
Garden Delights I & II - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
Wallflower III - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
Rainforest Beauty - Collection My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
Spring & Autumn Flurry Collection - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
La Volute Collection - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
Urban Butterfly - My New Hand Printed Fabric Design
Acanthus Dream - My New Hand Printed Fabric Design
“Cascading Acanthus” - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed 'Rainforest Beauty' Pashmina Wraps Collection
My ArtCloth Tea Towels: A New Collection of Digitally Designed Products
Through the Land it Roared . . . ArtCloth Shawl
My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed ‘Urban Codes - Series 1’ Collection
Urban Moonlight - My Post Graffiti Doily
My New Hand Printed Fabric Design - "Morocco" ArtCloth
‘Vine Glow’
“Bush Banksia’s” Collection"
Releasing My New - ‘Unique State’ ArtCloth Scarves

If you like any of my artworks in the above links, please email me at - Marie-Therese - for pricing and for any other enquiries.


A Brief Timeline of Scarves[1]
The roots of the origin of the English word "Scarf" come from the Old French word "escreppe", which translates as a purse suspended around the neck. Nowadays the word scarf indicates any neckerchief, especially those worn for warmth. The Oxford Dictionary defines the word "Scarf" as a length or square of fabric worn around the neck or head: for example, "She tucked her woolly scarf around her neck."

Scarves have a long history, but not all of it has been well documented. In fact one website[1] has given a brief timeline of its history, which we have reproduced below and which now appears on our post of Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff.


1350 BC: Egyptian Queen Nefertiti wore a finely woven scarf topped by a conical headdress.

1000 BC: Chinese sculptures featured scarf-like, fringed rectangular pieces of cloth.

230 BC: Warriors of the Chinese Emperor Cheng wore scarves made of cloth, which marked military rank.

10 AD: Romans wore a linen kerchief or “sudarium” (Latin for “sweat cloth”) knotted around the waist or around the neck.

60 AD: The Emperor Nero rarely appeared in public without a sudarium around his neck.

ca. 1150: Eleanor of Aquitaine wore scarves in a “gossamer cascade” from the tip of a tall pointed hat, starting a noted fashion trend of the Middle Ages.

1261: Egyptians adopted a dance style known today as belly dancing. Costumes included a scarf-like belt worn low on the hips.

1600: Croatian mercenaries wore scarves to signify rank.

1783: The Third Duke of Krakow was said to have invented the knitted scarf in this year.

1786: Napoleon Bonaparte sent his first wife Joséphine de Beauharnais cashmere scarves from India during his travels.

1810: Renowned composer Beethoven fell in love with Therese Malfatti and tried to win her heart by adopting a new look including fashionable suits, shirts and silk neck scarves.

1837: Hermès, French ready-to-wear retailer famous for its graphic silk scarves, was born.

1837: Queen Victoria came to the throne and popularizes fanciful accessories such as scarves. In the Victorian era in particular, these accessories aided to differentiate between the upper, middle and lower classes.

1856: Burberry, maker of iconic plaid scarves, was founded.

1900: Isadora Duncan, considered by many to be the mother of modern dance, popularizes long flowing scarves. Ironically, Duncan died as the result of a freak accident during which her long scarf was caught in the wheel of an automobile.

1914: The knitting of scarves became a patriotic war-time duty in the United States.

1930: Fur scarves were at the height of fashion in France.

1970: It was popular to wear scarves as a headband across the forehead or wrapped about the waist and chest as shirt.

2004: France passed a law that bans the wearing of Muslim head scarves in public schools.


2014 Scarf Festival
In Australia, we celebrate the scarf apparel with a yearly themed "Scarf Festival". In 2003, the scarf was first honoured with a festival that was held at Craft Victoria in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In 2008 the Scarf Festival moved to the National Wool Museum in Geelong, Victoria.

The National Wool Museum houses the timeless Australian story of wool, combined with exciting contemporary exhibitions, presented in an historic bluestone woolstore in Geelong's vibrant waterfront precinct.
Photograph Courtesy National Wool Museum.

This is the sixth year that the National Wool Museum has hosted the Scarf Festival. “Divinely wicked or devilishly good?” was the theme of this year’s Scarf Festival which attracted a record 329 scarves from across Australia and overseas. The National Wool Museum invited participants to explore and interpret the theme “Divinely wicked or devilishly good?” according to the suggested lines of thought:
(i) Will they be tempted by good or bad, or naughty or nice?
(ii) What happens when darkness meets the light?
(iii) What does it mean when the lines blur and the balance is broken?
(iv) How will they say it in a scarf?

The festival officially opened on June 5th, when a crowd of more than 150 gathered at the museum for the annual fashion show and award-winner announcements. The festival attracts entrants from some of Australia’s and the world’s well-known crafters and artists. Techniques include knitted, crocheted, woven, sewn, appliqued, dyed, printed and embellished pieces to name a few. The weirdest, wonderful, avant-garde and innovative creations are on show. Many of the scarves are available for purchase.

There were 12 Categories and winners in those categories were:
Scarf of the Year 2014: Margaret Drayton.
Thematic: Janette Wotherspoon.
Use of Colour: Di Liddelow.
Menswear: Christine Durbridge.
100% Wool: Kathleen Williams.
Sustainable Practices: Jo Bagge.
Woven: Kim Doherty.
Knitted: Kitty Morris.
Crocheted: Margaret Drayton also Scarf of the Year 2014 Winner.
Felted: Beverley Cox.
Primary School: Emily Bagge.
Secondary School: Lily Geyle.

Visitors could vote for their favorite scarf for the People's Choice Award at the festival. Craft demonstrations were held daily from 10:00am to 4:00pm during the course of the festival. The festival runs until September 7th 2014 at the National Wool Museum, 26 Moorabool Street, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.


My Scaves@2014 Scarf Festival - "Urban Artscape" Pashmina’s
My entries for this year’s Scarf Festival were based on the Thematic category which I interpreted as the "Urban Artscape".

The thematic elements in the works centred around the highly colorful and dynamic visual language of graffiti/street art, which abounds in our urban cityscapes. To some, this art form is considered as "nuisance" art. To me, street culture art encompasses the "devilishly good". By employing simplistic tools and mark making, there is a kindred spirit linking the art of the huntsman of prehistoric times to present day graffiti artists.

My first scarf was my Sampler. I then proceeded to create three large "Urban Artscape" pashmina scarves for the Festival based on the colors of the graffiti palette.

The scarves were hand dyed and hand printed and employed color washes, drawings and multiple mono print techniques using fabric pigments and permanent markers on viscose fabric. Each pashmina scarf measured 74 (width) x 195 (height) cm. Special care instructions were included with each scarf.

Excluding the Sampler, each scarf is available for purchase from the National Wool Museum during the festival which concludes on the 7th September 2014.

"Urban Artscape - Pashmina Sample" (full view).

"Urban Artscape - Pashmina Sample" (detail).

"Urban Artscape - Pashmina Sample" (close-up).

"Urban Artscape Pashmina 1" (full view).

"Urban Artscape Pashmina 1" (detailed view).

"Urban Artscape Pashmina 1" (close-up view).

"Urban Artscape Pashmina 2" (full view).

"Urban Artscape Pashmina 2" (detailed view).

"Urban Artscape Pashmina 2" (close-up view).

"Urban Artscape Pashmina 3" (full view).

"Urban Artscape Pashmina 2" (detailed view).

"Urban Artscape Pashmina 2" (close-up view).


Reference:
[1] https://www.scarves.net/blog/the-history-of-scarves-a-timeline/

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