Building Bridges through Textiles: Connecting US based students to the textile arts of Kuwait

As a professor of Fibers at the University of North Texas, I enjoy working with a vast array of students who come into our program with either a lot or a little knowledge of textiles and fibers. For me, textiles are a key to different cultures, and have the ability to open up the world, making it not seem so big.

I am thrilled that through the Weaving Stories initiative, I am able to give my students an opportunity to connect to a culture and a textile that they otherwise may never come across. As a part of this exhibition, we are constructing a very large sculpture inspired by the Sadu tent divider. This woven sculpture will be comprised of dozens of contributions from makers and artists throughout Kuwait and now from Texas!

I had the privilege of introducing both my Alternative Processes and Advanced Weaving classes to Sadu weaving, giving students context for this textile art and how it fits within contemporary culture. We discussed the Weaving Stories exhibition and the large scultural tent divider that numerous makers and artists are contributing to. Through all of this discussion, each student is finding their own inspiration from Sadu weaving and the culture of Kuwait.As they work on their designs to submit for this project, I am very excited to see their willingness to embrace a new culture through their textile arts and look forward to seeing their ideas and designs come to life.

By, Lesli Robertson, Principal Lecturer, UNT

P.S. - The excitement of this project is spreading... I had a former student find out about the project and decide that she HAS to create a panel. She was able to get all of the information, Powerpoints and requirements and literally begged to be able to participate! So Jenna, I can't wait to see your piece!