This story begins with a spool of thread and will end with a fabric. Between this beginning and the end, there's a whole world to tell. From the collaboration between Giovanni Filippini and Monica Rusconi of the Museo della Civiltà Contadina di Stabio comes this interesting and engaging video-documentary: "A Short Journey to Discover Weaving. From the Warp to the Fabric." Filming, editing, script, and narration: Monica Rusconi. At work: Giovanni…
Negative printing on fabric and its coloring with indigo reduction is also a Ticino tradition. This traditional process is widespread all over the world and in Europe it is, or was practiced, especially in the northern and eastern regions. In southern countries it is almost totally unknown (rare cases are found in France and Spain). As for Switzerland, this type of printing is not known except for some remote areas of…
In the northern part of the island of Okinawa, banana fiber fabrics (bashofu) are produced whose thread is mainly obtained from a specific plant (itobasho). This activity, already known since the thirteenth century, has decreased significantly with the arrival of silk and especially cotton. It is now slightly recovering also because it has become part of the Japanese cultural heritage. In October 2019 during a trip to Japan, I was able…
In March 2018 the Museum of Peasant Civilization in Stabio reopened under a new guise, directed by Monica Rusconi. Many activities are proposed, both for adults and for children and especially for school groups. To stay informed about the rich program, just visit their website.
A sincere and deep friendship binds me to this extraordinary and special person who is dedicating all of herself and her life to transmitting the millennial history of this particular fiber to the whole world, also called "the silk of the sea". Chiara Vigo lives in Sant ’Antioco in southern Sardinia, where people from all the world come to her atelier to learn about this unique story in the world. A…
I have been attending tapestry courses at the atelier A2 in Aubusson, a small town in central France for a couple of years. France-Odile Perrin Criniere is on of the teachers of the new “Ecole de tapisserie” in Aubusson. Since 2009, the “Aubusson Tapisserie” has been registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List. For more than five centuries, masterpieces have appeared in all the best museums in the world and in…
