DWN at the State Silk Museum, Georgia

July 12, 2017

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In May 2017, Digital Weaving Norway was at the STATE SILK MUSEUM in Tbilisi, Georgia, for a TC2 Training Workshop. Vibeke Vestby, who co-taught the workshop along with Cathryn Amidei, describes it as a “very inspiring experience”! Vibeke gives us a first-hand account of all the action at Georgia…

The idea to arrange a TC2 workshop in Georgia started with Nino Kvrivishvili, who, together with Nino Kipshidze, participated in a TC2 workshop in the Netherlands in 2015. The Netherland workshop was organized by ETN (European Textile Network) and took place at the Textile Museum in Tilburg. They got the director of the State Silk Museum, Chuka Kuprava involved. I had met Chuka in in Izmir, Turkey in 2005!

Georgia has a rich textile heritage; It was one of the end stations of the silk caravans. Marco Polo described Tbilisi as a place where you could find bazaars full of spices, silk and golden fabrics, as well as artifacts from China and India.

The sericulture was big business during the last half of the 19th century. During the Soviet times, there was still a silk weaving mill in Tbilisi, but today nothing is left. The State Silk Museum however has one of the world’s most thorough collections on different types of silk worms, documentation about types of mulberry trees and types of processing. The research station was headed by biologists and scientists at the forefront in Europe. The Silk museum itself is housed in one of the main buildings of the research station.

What is still a vivid tradition in Georgia is rug weaving. The TC2 could be a vehicle for inspiration, innovation and linking past with the future!

The workshop participants were an unusually resourceful and challenging group! There were several architects, performing artists, professors at the Tbilisi Art Academy, fashion designers, curators and staff from the State Silk museum. There were also the owner of a weaving business where the main products were traditional rugs. And two participants from Azerbaijan, who were also in the business of making textile art and craft products. Among the participants were also Beatrijs Sterk, former President of the ETN! During the 3 days workshop, we had 2 TV-teams visiting, in addition to Chuka being interviewed in News programs on TV. We also had a delegation of ministers visiting!

The workshop was co-taught with Cathryn Amidei, which was part of the tremendous success! Cathryn is extremely knowledgeable, and she is a great companion and colleague!

And here are some snapshots from the workshop…