Dear all,
Today was the first day of the workshop, and what an exciting day. The bus picked us up at 08.30 am at the hotel and drove us to the museum. First people had to register and get their workshop folder and small workshop bag with the workshop logo, specially delivered from India. When every one had registered, the conference could finally begin. It started with a welcome and introduction by Jihad kafafi, followed by Mary Harlow and Eva Andersson Strand, the organisers. Then 7 speakers followed. First we had Sue Jones talking about 'Visibility and Invisibility - The dilemmas facing 'traditional craft' workers in the contemporary context. reflecting on the case study of the Bani Hamida Weaving project in jordan compared with other projects in Oman, Kuwait, Egypt and the Negev'. After Sue, Laila Tyabji spoke about 'Threads and Voices - Traditional Craft in a Globalised World. After two presentations we could enjoy some coffee and cake. Then we started with Birgitta Nygren and Kerstin Andersson Åhlin ' The past, the present and the future, the national association of swedish handicraft societies', followed by Susanne Lervad ' Textile terminology and the concept of craft'. The 4 presentations were summed up with a great discussion and lots of varited questions for the speakers before we went to lunch.
After lunch we had 3 more presenxtations left. Toolika Gupta talked about 'Textile: A cultural window//Textile art//Know India through textiles', Ameera Saied al Zaben and Najd Sweidan talked about 'The role of the Jordan museum in Documenting Jordanian Traditional Costumes', and finally Anna Falk ended the session with 'Reconsidering traditional patternmaking: a new 'zero waste' perspective in fashion design. This was yet again followed by a discussion and questions for the speakers.
In a joining room to the conference hall we had set up a little 'show and tell' room, where everyone was able to see some of the things the other participants had brought. Jorie Jonson had brought some filt, Sophie Desrosier a loom, and Kerstin Andersson Åhlin and Birgitta Nygren had brought books from 'Svensk Hemslöjd'. It was also possible to spin and weave on a small loom.
When the workshop ended for today, the bus took us to two craft showrooms, Al-Ayadi and the Jordan River Foundation showroom, where everyone had the opertunity to spend a lot of money. The two craft showrooms were situated on Rainbow street where there was lots of opertunities to have dinner afterwards. I myself went to a restaurant with Jo Cutler, Berit Hildebrandt, Hedvig Enegren, Romina Laurito and Anna Falk.
When everyone had eaten, the bus took us back to the hotel so people could have the rest of the evening off.
This was a very exciting and productive day, with great speakers and presentation, and people taking an active part with many interesting questions. Luckily we have two more days.
Stay tuned for tomorrow, where we will visit Mrs Widad Kamel Kawars Home for Arab Dress.
Camilla :)
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