...Whitworth wanderings continued 'Shindigo Space' and 'Walls are talking'

Not knowing this was on I was pleasantly surprised to walk into this beautiful display of indigo resist dyed hemp fabric and sculptures aptly named Shindigo Space. They are by a Japanese artist called Hiroyuki Shindo who is a master dyer and leading textile artist in Japan. He has successfully combined traditional shibori and other resist techniques to create contemporary pieces that compliments and are complimented by the architectural space they inhabit. It is a display you should go to see in person because of this. The whole experience of viewing the layers of long hanging indigo and white textured fabrics against the sculpted sumptuously textured thread spheres wouldn't be the same viewing the pieces in a book or singularly on their own.

There's something about a strong indigo and bright white that is pleasing to the eye yet something so simple and a dyeing tradition that has been practiced for thousands of years.

The Walls are talking exhibition gave new lights to wallpaper. I loved seeing the different and diverse interpretations of a medium that is mostly seen as an everyday nondescript surrounding by artists who were challenging concepts of wallpaper.
Two wallpapers that were particularly interesting to me because of their relevance to my research were ones by Zineb Sedira. She was born in France to Algerian immigrant parents and her cultural background plays an important part in her art.

(This picture is from the artist's website, the piece in the exhibition is a smaller version of this)

From afar the paper appeared to be patterned in a traditionally Islamic perfectly symmetrical geometric pattern, but on looking closely portraits of Sedira, her mother, grandmother and daughter were placed inside the dense, intricate patterns. Une generation de Femmes and Quatre generations de femmes (1997) challenged notions of the female / male divide and each's role in society. As the making of these intricate mathematical patterns is traditionally a male occupation in Islamic culture, Sedira was reminding us that women's role in this society is integral to familial society but often disguised or not realised.