The Why We Create Launch

Guests start to arrive for the launch of the Why We Create series within TRACE at Pin-Up Project Space, Melbourne. Photography James Braund.

Invited guests from a diverse range of fields including Art, Design, IT, Engineering, Law, Media and Education joined the How We Create team for the Lunchtime Launch of the Why We Create Series.

The Why We Create initiative (founded by How We Create and I) seeks to spark a wider conversation about the process and value of design-led thinking in Australia. Interviews, discussions and public forums are occurring parallel to events that will take place across Australia over the next 12 months. The Launch of this series was held within TRACE at Pin-Up Project Space in Melbourne, on 16 May 2012, and marked the close of the exhibition.

Yes that’s me passionately speaking at the event. Photography James Braund.

Norman Johnson from How We Create and Palamont: art in manufacturing launched the series. I gave an intimate presentation into why I create, and the importance of creatives engaging with the wider business community.

Nicholas Rogers (Parameter Space) and Alexi Freeman (Alexi Freeman). Photography James Braund.

Fleur Watson in conversation (Pin-Up Project Space). Photography James Braund.

Gini Lee (Melbourne University) through Scale Screen. Photography James Braund.

Matt Ward with Martyn Hook (background). Photography James Braund.

Joanna Bosse, Gini Lee (Back) and Christina Waterson. Photography James Braund.

Simone LeAmon in focus. Photography James Braund.

Patricia Lee (Back)( Palamont), Alexi Freeman (Alexi Freeman), Norman Johnson (Back) (Palamont and How We Create) and Nicholas Rogers (Parameter Space). Photography James Braund.

Guests enjoyed good conversation and a beautiful selection of light tastes created by our special local friends Cibi (head, hands, heart) accompanied by refreshing organic apple juice and Pimms cocktails all served by the fabulous Boys and Girls team.

Special Thanks to Melbourne based photographer James Braund who documented the event exquisitely and of course to the team at How We Create.

For my Mum

Treasures within a discreet shop front

My Mum has taught me many things. To work hard at the things I love; to look deeper beyond surface; and to value all of the beautiful things in the world; from people to nature and their celebration in ceramics, glassware, jewellery and prints. During my daily walks in Istanbul I came across a little shop that had many beautiful treasures. They reminded me of my Mum and the curios that surrounded me during my childhood.

These photos are for you Mum to inspire you today! Thank you!

Thimbles, pen nibs, eyeglasses, clock faces, shell Cameos…

More spectacles, brooches, pins, amber beads…

Stamps for printing fabric…

Stamps for pressing metal…

Vintage italian glass micro-mosaic brooches…

Cufflinks, snuff boxes, glass eyes for dollies…

The Tulip

Carpet within The Blue Mosque, Istanbul, featuring blue tulips ready to blossom (central)

Silk Lattice Design with gold tulips and pomegranate superimposed with red and blue rosebuds; Turkey probably Bursa 1550 – 1600 The V&A Collection

The symbolic importance of the Tulip to the Ottoman Empire is seen within the use of the motif throughout their textiles, ceramics, tile work and rugs in a myriad of patterns formations and variations in the tulip forms. Within the Sufi language the Tulip and its parts have different meanings.

- The colors symbolise God.

- Tulips have a black/dark interior. The structure (from dark interior to colourful exterior) symbolises ‘the tolerant, respectful Dervish who overcame interior evil to become bright’.

- Tulips have six petals symbolizing the Six Articles of Faith. Often within the patterns, though, they are shown with three or four petals as they are drawn from a side view.

- The petals and their configuration in the patterns mean different things. When facing upwards, for example, they represent the Dervish opening arms to the sky praying.

Detail of Embroidered Princes Kaftan: Meandering Vine with Tulips (from side with three petals) 1590 – 1600 The V&A Collection

Tiles with repeat pattern, Turkey probably Iznik, About 1580 The V&A Collection. Tulips drawn from side view with four petals

Dhoku

Dhoku at The Grand Bazaar

Dhoku group, lead by Mehmet Gureli, produces contemporary rough-hewn, flat weave rugs. Dhoku means ‘texture’. Mehmet comes from three generations of experience in Turkish Rugs. Dhoku produces EthniCon Vintage a type of rug that blends undamaged portions of antique ethnic Turkish kilims to make contemporary rugs.

Traditional rugs salvaged, re-dyed and trimmed; New Life and New Beauty

Dhoku launched their new range with traditional kilims designed by SUPERPOOL

They also make new kilims using traditional patterns hand woven with sheep yarn on Anatolia looms. The most beautiful of these incorporate natural dyes and simple two color patterns. While in Istanbul I met with Mustafi Gureli a number of times to discuss Dhoku’s process, material qualities and limitations of weaving to pattern making and the patterned designs.

Very generous and passionate people! Special Thanks to Mustafi Gureli from Dhoku!

The Turkish and Islamic Works Museum

One of the Main Exhibition Spaces within the Turkish and Islamic Works Museum

The Turkish and Islamic Works Museum is located in Ibrahim Pasha Palace at Sultanahmet Square, Istanbul. The Palace’s large ceremony hall and second courtyard serve as the main exhibition spaces for the Museum. The Museum has an amazing collection of carpets and rugs from the diverse cultures that make up Turkey, including samples of Usak and palace carpet, and Anatolian carpets produced between the 15 to 17th Centuries.

Seljuk Carpet: 13^th – 14^th Century, from the Tomb of Saltan Alaaddin Keykubat in Konya. From afar this rug looks very simple and bold. It also has beautiful detail in texture and pattern that you appreciate up close. 

Arda standing beside Carpet with Vase Motif: Persia, Shah Abbas period 17th Century, from the Topkapi Palace Museum.

Details of Carpets L> Carpet Western Anatolia Usak, late 18th Century – early 19th Century, from the Ankara Ethnographical Museum. C > Seljuk Carpet: 13th – 14th Century, From the Tomb of Saltan Alaaddin Keykubat in Konya. R > Garden Carpet: North Western Persia 18th Century, from Mosul.

There were extensive examples of tile work, carvings, calligraphy, and religious artifacts such as cases, book-rests and drawers using mother of pearl, ivory, and tortoise-shell inlay.

L > Gilded Copper Lantern (Detail) Ottoman Period, CA 1481 – 1512. C and R > Details of Doors from the The Great Mosque of Cizre. Beaten Copper Sheet attached to wood backing with iron nails. Motifs include the Twelve pointed star with a border of the Four leaf clover, Rumi-Palmette and scrolls. The knobs incorporate the Dragon and the Lion. These are frequently used in Anatolian Artukid Art symbolising the Sun and the Moon.

Rest for The Koran

SALT

SALT Main Gallery Space/Foyer

SALT is a non-profit Institution located in Istanbul. It has Exhibition spaces, Forum, Cinema, Café, Shop and Garden within its Beyoğlu headquarters that opened in early 2011.

It’s aim is to explore issues in visual and material culture within art, design, architecture and urbanism and cultivate innovative programs for research and experimental thinking. It has become widely recognized as a site for critical debate through its public programmes.

Walk in Cinema

Looking Back Towards the Entry

Beyoğlu main mall beyond

Previously an apartment building, the redesign for contemporary use was completed by Mimarlar Tasarım, the office of Aga Khan Award for Architecture winner Han Tümertekin.

Very cool space to hang out in within the centre of Beyoğlu.

Liberty of London: An Introduction

Liberty of London: View to Entrance on Great Marlborough Street and wares

I have collected Liberty fabrics since I was eight years old. Even though I grew up in a rural Queensland town, we were lucky to have a little shop in the centre of Bundaberg that stocked only Liberty fine cottons. This was where my love for the floral and paisley patterned Liberty Tana Lawn began. I would collect little pieces of the precious cotton prints and make watchbands, hair ties, patchwork bags and purses. It was inspiring to know there were such beautiful things in the world. The color ways and patterns made a deep impression on me and were a window to distant exotic lands. I still collect Liberty fabrics to this very day, along with luscious and eclectic velvets and silks, and patterned John Kaldor viyella and jersy.

While I had arranged to meet with Anna Baruma, Liberty of London Archivist on my way back from Turkey, I decided I would take the opportunity during my stopover to visit Liberty of London the Store. I met with Brian Boyle from Japanese Prints and Fine Arts, as well as Bruce Lepere; Oriental Rug Buyer from Oriental Rugs at Liberty and a walking talking treasure for his knowledge of Liberty history. These two sections of Liberty, especially Oriental Rugs, have been a part of Liberty of London from the very beginning.

Still today a place you can find rare beauty gathered from all over the world

Through the vision of Arthur Lasenby Liberty, Liberty of London was originally conceived of as an emporium; bringing the best of the world to London. The essence of the store was to bring exotic and beautiful goods of quality from the East to the West: to stock things that no one else had seen and to make them available to discerning Londoners. Imported textiles; dyeing techniques; Japanese fans, screens and art prints; Blue and White Pottery from China: inlaid wooden boxes and carvings, metal work and rugs from Persia and Turkey filled the Emporium. The materials and richness of color and pattern, in turn, inspired a whole generation of British talent to design and produce high quality goods. In 1920 Liberty’s Tana Lawn was launched; made from a particular cotton plant from Lake Tana in Sudan. It had the feel of silk but did not come with the price of silk. Its quality was due to the long fine staple of the particular cotton and the skill of the weavers to pack a very high thread count into the fabric.

One of the Light Wells draped with Oriental Rugs

While Liberty is best known for its small floral prints, the first Liberty Tana Lawns were far more exotic. Ianthia was the first, followed by Hera (Peacock Feather) and the beautiful and complex Strawberry Thief (by William Morris). Why is this important? This process of travel and trade along the Silk Road to stores such as Liberty of London, assisted then and continues in the transmission and transformation of traditional patterns and techniques of making. They were assimilated through designers, makers and artists, inspired by the fluidity, materiality, depth and color, and especially ‘otherness’. Wallpapers, textile design, rugs, home wares, tiling patterns, furniture making and architecture were all transformed by exposure to the tradition and richness of making from the East.

(In conversation with Brian Bolye, Bruce Lepere and the generous staff at Liberty of London).

Detail

Guangdong Museum Collection…

…the contents that sit within The Guangdong Museum treasure box? The region is recognized for its carving especially in wood, ivory and jade. Within the museum there were exquisite examples of these along with embroidery, painting and ceramics.

L > R Detail of Pine Tree within Chaozhou Embroidery, Late Qing Dynasty; Painted Enamel Bowl with Lid, Qing Dynasty; Top Detail of Engraved Ivory Tusk, Qing Dynasty

A highlight was the Chaozhou Woodcarving exhibition. Chaozhou Woodcarving is a folk woodcarving that known for its detail, craftsmanship, and elaborate design. It has distinctive local characteristics that reflect the process, local customs, beliefs and way of life of the Chaozhou-Shantou people.

L > R Window Grill with Flowers incorporated in Geometric Design; Plank in openwork featuring pine and flowers, Qing Dynasty

Craftsman use the basic materials of wood, lacquer, pigment and foil. Woods used include camphor, chinafir, chinaberry, and rosewood. The works featured special techniques employed to make the screens, carvings and objects. These techniques include Intaglio, Relief, Altorelievo, and Openwork and are used individually or in combination. The actual carvings were setout using metric, perspectival and isometric composition techniques. Like stone carving; in Chaozhou Woodcarving the properties of the wood inform the carving technique, layering and composition type.

L > R Shrine door in openwork featuring pattern of Nine Bats delivering longevity; Detail of decorative panel in struck relief with patterns of dragons, phoenixes and The Eight Immortals on Ruyi heads background, Qing Dynasty; Complex plank work with figures and stories, The Republic of China 

The artisans had captured the essential features of nature within the wood. Most memorable were the peony flower and chrysanthemum, the structure and simplicity of the pine needles as well as the detailed scales and feathers of the mythical beasts (dragons, phoenixes etc.) The works using simpler techniques such as Intaglio (carving into surface) used only a few marks to capture these features.

Combinations of more complex techniques made a special space to experience within the carving. Patterned openwork for background (often including simplified and varied arrangements of clouds) used with more dimensional techniques such as altorelievo (three-dimensional carving that can be observed from any angle) gave focus, depth and completeness.

Introducing Max

Max-imum Character

While in Shanghai I visited the Hand-printed Blue Nankeen Exhibition Hall where I bought my only treasure from China; a small Cloth Tiger made from blue nankeen fabric. I named him Max!

Nankeen cloth is a type of Chinese batik using blue indigo dye. It has a beautiful simplicity and refinement. The four simple marks stitched on Max’s forehead are significant. This character originates from the brow of Tigers, and because the Tiger is known as the ‘King of Beasts’ it means King. The Tiger denotes  yin or earth.

Max’s simple ‘Cloth Tiger’ form has been made (more or less) in this way since ancient times. His features capture the essential qualities of the Tiger without being a direct representation. This is in keeping with the essence of Chinese traditional art following the principle  “unworthy to be similar in shape, worthy to be similar in spirit.”

Karacho: karakami

Karacho’s Saruyama Salon with Hyotan (gourd pattern) on the entry Fusami

On arriving at Karacho’s Saruyama Salon I was greeted by my special interpreter for the day (Karacho staff member) Mayo Ishii. Ishii modestly introduced Toto and Aiko, the twelfth generation of Karacho Karakami artists.

Toto first presented the Karacho Fusami screen samples. The patterns were very spatial and present in time; especially the white on white Kado Tsunagi (connecting angles). It was like a spider’s web at night catching the smallest amount of light with its silvery thread; a shimmering transient moment.

The hangi (wood blocks) are a particular size to match the largest size of washi produced in the early times. On the Fusami screens the patterns are set out to form a continuous pattern. Many of the patterns that looked contemporary were in fact the very oldest.

There is a special ritual that Toto performs to prepare for Karakami. This is personal and spiritual. Toto selected a wood block with the pattern of a wispy cloud (or for me like the moment when the sun glows on the lining of a cloud). It was very soothing to watch Toto work. In Karakami the colour is applied with a furui. This application is gentler on the woodblock than a brush and ensures the hangi’s longevity.

Preparation: combining the pigments to the desired colour mixed with mica; then applied to furui (fine circular sieve) with the natural brush; a selection of prepared hangi

Toto gently transfers the colour to the prepared hangi

Gentle touch as washi meets hangi through pattern

Checking, then adding colour

Gently the washi is lifted from the hangi and karakami placed face up

Toto informed me that it was now my turn! I was a little reserved as it was such an honour to experience the making of Karakami. Toto guided me through the process and told me that watching someone make Karakami gave an insight into a person’s nature…

The hangi Toto selected for me was asanoha (hemp leaves). This was a block that had been carved anew as the original was very often used.

…Come close and let me whisper something. There is a moment when the furui meets the hangi for the first time, that is like breathing.  Delicate and fleeting and very personal.

The feeling took my breath away.