Textiles students take part in international 'Passion & Legacy' show

An exhibition of contemporary textiles, celebrating an international project called ‘Passion & Legacy’, will open in GMIT’s Centre for the Creative Arts and Media (CCAM) on Thursday, 3 December, from 5.30pm. Hosted in collaboration with Red Strand Design, the GMIT exhibition will feature the work of 25 students on the Bachelor of Arts in Design in Textiles on campus.

The international Passion & Legacy project invites textile, fashion, fine art and design students, as well as professional practitioners and amateur stitchers, to embrace the Irish Arts & Crafts Movement (1886 - 1925) and the work of the Lethbridge sisters as a source of inspiration for design in the 21st century.

The Canadian-born Lethbridge sisters, Julia Baroness Carew (1863-1922) and Lady Jane Cory (1865-1947), were famed for their needlework skills and for the scale of the embroideries they produced for their Irish and London homes. Julia’s passion was for antique work, crewel embroidery in the Jacobean style (tree of life motif), while Jane preferred figurative compositions, including the work of contemporary artists and designers like Edward Burne-Jones. Acclaimed in the press on both sides of the Atlantic their work featured in exhibitions such as the 1st Australian Exhibition of Women’s Work (Melbourne, 1907) and the Franco-British Exhibition (London, 1908).

GMIT Textiles lecturer Tony Magner says their work has inspired a new generation of emerging and established designers across Ireland, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, US and Canada.

“Our third and fourth year students are delighted to be involved in this international project. The works will range from mixed media textiles techniques that include traditional hand embroidery, digital fabric print with 3D oragami, embossing, handpainting and machine embroidery. Archives provide a rich resource for our students. They research and develop their own unique take on heritage skills and ideas and help make them accessable to a contemporary audience”.

Caroline McNamara of Red Stand Design, says: “We are honoured to have the Lethbridge work available as source material for Passion & Legacy participants. Work submitted by students in each of the countries will be judged by an international panel including Professor Nicola Gordon Bowe, Mary Schoeser, and Claire Regnault, Senior Curator History at Te Papa.”

“Students, designers and stitchers from regional groups will have an opportunity to have their work displayed at national and international exhibitions including GMIT Galway from 3-12 December, at the 1st Passion & Legacy Symposium in Belfast in January 2016 which we have developed in association with the Irish Linen Museum, and at RMIT Melbourne, Australia, as part of Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival during March 2016.”

For further information on the CCAM Passion & Legacy Exhibition which runs from 3 to 12 December, please contact tony.magner@gmit.ie  For information on GMIT’s Textiles degree programme (L8) see:

http://www.gmit.ie/art-and-design/bachelor-arts-honours-design-textiles  The Embroidered Furnishings of the Lethbridge Sisters by Dr Lynn Hulse will be published later this year by new imprint Ornamental Embroidery. For further information or images email: claire@clairesawford.net cs@redstranddesign.com and/or www.redstranddesign.com @redstranddesign

GMIT’s design programmes are highly regarded by employers in the design and textile industry; students and graduates have won prestigious awards and accolades at national and international level over the years.

Dr Paddy Tobin, Head of the CCAM campus, says: "The GMIT Centre for Creative Arts & Media is currently in the process of developing new programmes in Design including Fashion and Textiles that build on its 40-year track record in providing education and graduates for the creative arts sector."