PIECEWORK brings together students from UCC, West Virginia University & MTU to engage in collaborative art and performance making related to textile practices.

29 Nov 2024

Shows in the Granary Theatre at 7:30 pm

Weds 4th - SOLD OUT

Thurs 5th - tickets available 

PIECEWORK develops experimental pedagogies in Textile Art and Sustainability by bringing together students from West Virginia University (WVU), University College Cork (UCC) and Crawford College of Art (MTU) to engage in collaborative art and performance making related to local textile practices (Appalachian, Irish, Polish, Portuguese and others) and the ways in which textiles are “carriers of narrative, culture and social history” (Áine Kavanagh CCAD). The focus on sustainability introduced students to the impact of textile industries (the fashion industry is responsible for 8 – 10% of global greenhouse gases) and grassroots activism around thrifting / upcycling, circular economies, the mending movement and the ‘wear your wardrobe’ campaigns. All textiles used in PIECEWORK are second-hand, recycled, borrowed or from ‘deadstock.’

PIECEWORK has a particular focus on the gendered histories of hand textile practices in West Virginia and Ireland especially as they relate to economic challenge / poverty and rural life. It also focuses on how textiles of all kinds come to be lodestones for story, memory and senses of place and home.  Exploring these histories allows a contextualised artistic exploration of contemporary making through theatre performance and the installation  / activation of textile materials / sculptures. 

This collaboration has been made possible by the generous partnership of Pamela Hardesty (Head of Textiles, Crawford College of Art & Design MTU) and Beth Shorrock (Head of Farm to Fashion, West Virginia University).

Exhibition of Mapping Climate Change: The Knitting Map & The Tempestry Project, The Art Museum, West Virginia University Aug 19 - Dec 15, 2024

This collaboration came about through the current exhibition of Mapping Climate Change at The Art Museum, West Virginia University. Jools Gilson, one of the artists behind The Knitting Map was Artist in Residence at The Art Museum 14 – 18 Oct, 2024.

More information and tickets at https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/piecework-tickets-1096199776039