3rd European textile and Fibre Art Festival - Catalogue

Global Intrigue
In order to differentiate the 3rd European
Textile and Fiber Art Triennial ”Tradition and
Innovation” from the two previous ones we
based it on the theme ”GLOBAL INTRIGUE”.
The theme from one side being intrigous,
from the other side – deep and serious.
When choosing this particular theme the main
idea was – to cognize how globalization,
a characteristic feature of the beginning
of the 21st century, is being reflected in
textile and fibre art on the world art
scale. How do innovations caused by
the globalization get on with the traditional
cross-cultural contacts? How do
textile artists update their time in the
context of contemporary surroundings?
In a way – to challenge artists.
This time we were certain that the theme will
help artists to concentrate on more interesting
and valuable things of today than just
the material and techniques, which were the
characteristics for both the previous shows.
Our subsequent wish was to provoke a discussion
among the artists from different
parts of the world about our time: society,
principal global issues, etc. and examine: Do
artists react to social, economic, cross-cultural,
even political problems? Which are the
main issues of their ”discussions”? On the
other hand there were doubts whether
artists will understand the theme properly as
the theme gives a vast range of interpretation
possibilities.
The result was marvellous!
The Organizing Committee of the Triennial
received in total 250 applications from 40
countries all over the world and I would like
to express my sincere thanks to all the artists
who have contributed to this significant for
Riga event.
As a tradition, we have invited three internationally
well known experts from abroad to
take part in the jury and I am really grateful
that Widar Halén (Norway), Jennifer Harris
(UK) and Caroline Boot (the Netherlands) –
well known experts in the field – agreed to
be a part of our jury team and share their
time and knowledge while selecting the most
characteristic to the theme pieces of art.
As it was previously stressed in the Regulations
of the Triennial this time we have given
priority to the innovative approach of
the theme. As a result, we have selected in
total 61 artists from 21 countries to take
part at the GLOBAL INTRIGUE.
As for the jury members - we were really surprised
how much actually artists can tell
about our time – the beginning of the second
millennium – and how many creative
personalities have given reference to it.
We live in a very complicated and in many
aspects tense time, when so many things
happen on the world scene as well as in
each country’s history – political and economic
intrigues, conflicts, etc.
This is really the case when I would like to
touch aspects of the theme more than analyze
materials and techniques, which I leave
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