Newsletter European Textile Network (Hannover, 2003)
CULTURAL FOUNDATION 4 NET OF THE EUREGION FOR TEXTILES ASSOCIATION EUROPEAN TEXTILE NETWORK THE ETN-NET ALLIANCE AN INTEGRATED CONCEPT ON TWO PILLARS 4 4 COUNCIL OF EUROPE 4 4 ASSEMBLY OF EUROPEAN REGIONS 4 4 4 4 4 Mailing address: ETN-NET Secretariat P.O.Box 5944 D-30059 Hannover Tel.+49-511/817006 Fax+49-511/813108 ______________________________E-mail: ETN@ETN-net.org http://www.ETN-net.org______________________________ CONFERENCE PREPARATION IN UNCERTAIN TIMES A t the time of writing (March 13th) we are still at peace. What does our common interest in textiles have to do with politics - our members may ask. But it has, as a small note in the world press made clear: When Colin Powell did his multi-media presentation on February 5th, 2003, to convince the UN Security Council members to take military action against Saddam, the "Guernica” tapestry hanging at the entrance of the UN Security Council was covered up ahead of Powell’s speech. It was clear that no photos of Colin Powell should be made in front of an anti-war image! "We only do this until the cameras leave” was what the media liaison told (source: The Washington Times). Guernica was a small Spanish town, the first to be completely bombed - on April 26, 1937, by German and Italian squadrons. Somehow there seem to be rests of bad conciousness about the moral right to bomb down a town, or was it pure cynism from the side of US public relation services? The tapestry after the painting by Picasso came to the United Nations in 1985 as a gift by the estate of Nelson D. Rockefeller. Tapestries glorifying military action were made in history but not after World War II, there was at least some progress in human development since the last return to barbarism. Are we bombed back into dark times again? One American journalist wrote "Nowadays, you’d have trouble getting "Guernica” past a committee. To grace an important building, it would have to be something entirely more enigmatic.” Also our Conference is already overshadowed by fears of war: We had been very proud to have some group members of a costume group from Jeddah/Saudi-Arabia coming to Prato in September to show parts of their collection there. Now they wrote that they will stay home and wait for better times. What we as ETN can do, is staying in contact and making new contacts with all non- Western cultures. Only by knowing a culture one is able to respect it and we, the textile people, have the advantage of sharing a very visual and sensual language. We hope that our Prato Conference will not be further affected and that as many of you are able to come and enjoy the late summer in Tuscany making new textile friends. Beatrijs Sterk Picasso’s Guernica, painting (above) and tapestry at the entrance of the UN Security Council ARTISTS AT WORK - NEW TECHNOLOGIES & MATERIALS This competition is issued by ETN member, the Textile Museum of Prato, in cooperation with the ETN Secretariat. Artists working with new textile technologies and/or materials are asked to submit work for an exhibition from 18.9.-3.11.2003 at the new location of the Prato Textile Museum in conjunction with the ETN Conference from 18.- 21.9.2003. The town of Prato is one of the very few European cities were 80% of people employed are still working in textiles. The planned exhibition will make a link between artists working with new materials and techniques - used in the textile industry - and the textile industrialists. The Prato Textile Museum is one of the few museums collecting textile innovation from today’s industry. The jury is composed of: Emanuele Lepri, Director of the Textile Museum; Patricia Kinsella, textile designer and organiser of the exhibition; Miranda B. MacPhail and Stefanie Gori, textile art curators; Frances Geesin, textile artist and Beatrijs Sterk (ETN’s General Secretary and publisher of Textile Forum). At the time of writing, submissions are coming in thick and fast. Discussions have already started as to the meaning of new materials and techniques. The jury members are aware that different interpretations are possible. Participants are advised to read the competition text carefully and to describe their new technique/material as precise as possible in the application form. Forms and text are found on www.po-net.prato.it/ tessuto/common/eng/atwork.htm Address: Textile Museum, Piazza del Comune 9,1-59100 Prato, Italy; tel. +390-574/611503; fax +390-574/444585; e-mail: museodeltessuto@pp-net.prato.it Deadline: April 7th, 2003