Exhibits

Quilts playing hide and seek

Exhibits

Some months ago I went through a Facebook post that raised my curiosity.
It contained a light blue spot looking familiar to me.
I observed better: it was the story of a quilt gallery, held in Elba Island (the place where Napoleon reigned exiled in 1814). Just below the numbered text covering the picture, something real was playing hide and seek: a quilt of mine!

I didn’t know that this quilt of mine was travelling.
It was created for the 2019 Abilmente fair in Vicenza: it contained a bit of indigo fabric, participating to a national quilt contest based on the use of such color.
I named it “Pond”.
I allowed this quilt to be available for 15 months, potentially joining further events, but many quilting fairs were cancelled, several months have passed, and I forgot of its destiny.

The Facebook post brought “Pond” to my eyes again, since my quilting friend Ariella shared pictures of an unexpected initiative. Thanks to the post, I learnt of the exhibit arranged by Elba quilt guild, in collaboration with Quilt Italia, titled Patchwork as art to sew during times: “Pond” happened to become part of this event.

This was fascinating!
It suggested images of somebody’s hands, taking care of your work among other pieces, bringing it in Portoferraio town, hanging it on the wall, and arranging a group exhibit, all of this like a surprise. The gallery contained works of quilters from Elba, and a section of the indigo contest pieces, thanks to the organization by Anna Diversi.

Such photos were the first ones I could see since Spring, referring to a quilt gallery becoming true.
It was the end of August 2020.
In that moment, I felt confident that I could arrange my exhibit too, within the end of Summer.

And the idea for Tagliamento, king of rivers started to take shape.

Tagliamento king of rivers: exhibit vernissage

activism, Exhibits

The virtual gallery, Tagliamento king of rivers, lands on the real world!
The exhibit vernissage will take place in Trieste (Italy), on Saturday September 26th, hosted by Atelier dell’arte, with video live-stream at 18.00 CEST on Facebook page MostraTagliamento (discussion will take place in Italian language).

You will find photo prints on aluminium and acrylic for an immersive experience, quilt wall panels talking of water and sand, all hosted in an elegant Liberty style building, with large rooms that allow distancing; the attendance requires booking.

I’m so glad to host discussion on how to provide statutory protection to Tagliamento river and ecosystem, thanks to event guest Massimo Moretuzzo, regional councilor and primary promoter of the change.org petition aimed to enlist Tagliamento into Unesco Natural World Heritage. A few days have passed since the moment I subscribed the petition on-line, and already some more thousands of supporters have been added. Join us!

It’s not me who entitled Tagliamento as a king. The European relevance of the main alpine river ecosystem is established in scientific literature by German and Swiss researchers, creating the definition “den König der Alpenflüsse“. After reading the article by Tockner et al., “The Tagliamento River: a model ecosystem of European importance“, I understood why the most beautiful photos I took along Tagliamento streams were from the zone between Amaro and Cornino towns: because that area is recognized as the one with highest biodiversity!

Come to see it: you’re invited.

Birmingham shows quilts live

Exhibits, joining events

Last year I was planning a travel to Birmingham with my family, with the Festival of Quilts as one of the destinations. Some friends listened to our discussion and said: “Why not? Let’s go to London all together, and you Paola shall be our guide for English translation!”

At that time, we postponed the plan to year 2020. But we’ve not purchased any ticket to Birmingham yet: the holidays were adjusted to visiting the mountain in our surroundings, in order to remain within our region.

Still, my opportunity to join the Birmingham event arrived anyway: the Festival of Quilts went “live”!

Today I’ve attended the virtual inauguration, and the emotion was there when the moderator announced: “The winner is…”. And this happened for no less than 15 times: so many, indeed, were the categories of the virtual competition, and I could appreciate the view of very elegant winning quilts, including striking works from kids down to 5-9 years old category!

I participated to the event with one of my works too. My quilt “Seaside” is now visible in the on-line gallery of the Festival of Quilts virtual competition, category contemporary quilts: I decided to propose my entry to the contest, by submitting one of the rare cases where I used raw edge applique.

“Seaside” is dedicated to the colors and ripples of Adriatic sea, wetting my home town Trieste. Shells, sand and sunlight reflections on wave crests appear as symbols on this work. The longitudinal development of the layout allowed me to play with the band line direction: I quilted three long stripes with walking-foot, that can be read either as waves, or as an abstract shape placed at the panel core.

A quilt by Giovanna Nicolai is on display too, in the modern category of the Festival of Quilts 2020 gallery. I love this work of her, titled “Fluorescent hope”: it’s featured also on the home page of the site hosting our joint project Quilt Improv Studio, that we share with Carla Beretta. Giovanna wrote in her article, themed on the recent expansion of digital quilt world: “We will participate to inauguration ceremonies staying at home”: I’ve experienced this right now, together with hundreds of quilters connected at the same time to the Festival opening ceremony, during my lunch break, with a tasty dish of spaghetti and meat sauce!