An Introduction

Introducing: Pulling Strings!  A textile-focused event series that presents hot topics and odd topics in craft.

A concept unique to Hamilton, Pulling Strings is a quarterly event series that investigates contemporary cultural themes through textile-linked lectures, panel discussions, exhibitions, workshops, and fieldtrips.  The Pulling Strings project is the brainchild of craft thinkers and doers Thea Haines, Jen Anisef and Tara Bursey. Motivated by a belief that textiles tell us a lot about our culture, and inspired by Hamilton’s creative community’s contribution to downtown renewal and civic engagement, Pulling Strings aims to create an accessible and dynamic space for people of various stripes to come together and engage in the exchange of ideas.

Pulling Strings is a sister project of the Beehive Craft Collective.

About the Pulling Strings Collective:

 
Jen Anisef is a craft community organizer, having developed grassroots projects that include the Montreal Church of Craft, City of Craft, and the Toronto Craft Alert.  She is currently a proud member of the Beehive Craft collective in Hamilton.  As a research consultant she has produced sectoral analysis on contemporary craft practices for the Ontario Craft Council and the Ontario Arts Council.  Jen's day job is Cultural Projects Specialist with the City of Hamilton, Tourism and Culture Division.  She loves to bust a move when and wherever possible, and her ultimate crafty dream is to make a full sized quilt and not give it away.

Thea Haines is a textile designer, artist and educator, currently an instructor in Textile Design at Sheridan College, Oakville. Her research and design practice is focused on natural colorants as an aspect of sustainable textile craft production. Previously an artist-in-residence of the Craft Studio at Harbourfront Centre, and a member of the Contemporary Textile Studio Co-operative, Toronto, she is a founding member of the Beehive Craft Collective, and a recent graduate of MA Textiles at Chelsea College of Art and Design, in London, UK.  She likes to drink copious amounts of strong tea while drawing or sewing, and listening to the radio. 

Tara Bursey is an interdisciplinary artist and emerging curator whose interests include installation, performance, textile art and culture, food, collaboration and publishing.  Formerly a Curatorial Assistant at the Textile Museum of Canada, she has been a contributing curator for Gallery 1313 (Toronto), the Ontario Crafts Council and City of Craft and is currently working on curatorial projects for Toronto Artscape and the City of Hamilton.  She loves learning about textiles from around the world, particularly from Mexico, Central America, Syria and the Balkans.  She unites her loves of textiles and rock'n'roll by wearing as much vintage clothing from the psychedelic era as possible.

Our inaugural event is coming up on Saturday November 23rd, presented with the help of Hamilton Artists Inc. and Needlework.  Stay tuned for more details!  To keep up to date on our quarterly event series, get on our mailing list by dropping us a line at pullingstringshamilton@gmail.com or following us on our Facebook page.