Call for Submissions is closed.
Thanks to everyone who submitted. We received over 300 submissions and thousands of artworks. We are working our way through them and will contact all the artists as soon as posisble.
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Three Options for Submitting
Body of Work – Maximum 10 pieces + details.
Individual Pieces – Maximum 10 pieces + details.
Installations – Maximum 10 pieces + details and renderings.
Festival 2014: The Gallery: The Red & The Black exhibition.
About Submissions
Festival Dates: October 29, 2016 – November 27, 2016
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We are excited to see your new work!
Artists from around the world are invited to submit bodies of work, installations or individual pieces to the festival. The three curators will draw from the pool of submissions to create different thematic group exhibitions. We also mount dozens of solo shows in the corridor galleries.
Something that’s different about World of Threads is that we let the art guide us. We don’t have predetermined curatorial ideas or impose our concepts on the artists. Each festival is a blank slate. Shows develop entirely out of the submissions received. Your work might inspire an entire exhibition! For Festivals 2014 and 2012 we curated using this process and it worked very successfully. We’re also open to work that is not made of fibre materials but instead uses techniques of fibre like sewing and weaving.
Festival 2016 will be focused around Queen Elisabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. In addition to the beautiful gallery, we will also be using the Display Area, the Corridor Galleries, and lobby areas of the entire facility. In addition, there will be one exhibition in Mississauga, at the Living Arts Centre.
Fibre Artist Interviews: Some artists who are accepted will be invited to participate in our interview series.
Festival 2014: The Display Area
Festival Background
The World of Threads Festival is a leading international showcase of contemporary fibre and textile art. We are a not-for-profit initiative with charitable status run by two dedicated volunteers Dawne Rudman and Gareth Bate. The Festival is ambitious and constantly expanding into new territory. We believe that some of the most exciting and compelling artwork being made today is happening in the field of fibre arts. Through our initiatives we have discovered some remarkable artists and brought them to the attention of Canadian and international audiences.
We began in Oakville, Ontario in 1994 as a single exhibition, expanding to a full festival in 1998 and becoming international in 2009. Festival 2014 had 255 artworks and 97 artists from 10 countries. The festival draws visitors from across the region and internationally and has featured work submitted by hundreds of artists from around the world. In 2015 Dawne Rudman and Gareth Bate won the Oakville Arts Council 2015 Community Impact Arts Award.
Our website has become a central hub for lovers of fibre art with our Fibre Artist Interviews series. To date we have conducted over 135 interviews with Canadian and international artists. We encourage you to spend some time on our website to see what we have done in the past. For some examples of previous artists and exhibitions look under Artwork or check out our Artist Interviews and Curator Interviews. We are working on getting the albums up from the last festival.
Previous festivals have featured artists from: Countries: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the USA.
Canadian provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.
Festival 2014: Solo Exhibtions in the Halls. Louise Lemieux Bérubé
Galleries for 2016
Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre, Oakville
- The Gallery: This beautiful space is our principle gallery. We will be mounting a major group exhibition based on the submissions we receive.
The Living Arts Centre, Mississauga
- The Gallery Space in the complex will, for the second festival in a row, be one of the venues for Festival 2016. A group exhibition based on the submissions we receive will be held in this gallery.
Curators:
Chair & Festival Curator: Dawne Rudman
Festival Curator: Gareth Bate
Living Arts Centre Gallery: Megan Press
Festival 2014: The Living Arts Centre
Frequently Asked Questions
- Where is Oakville?
Oakville is part of the Greater Toronto Area and is situated 40 km west of Toronto on Lake Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. Oakville has a population of 170,000 and is well served by public transit to and from Toronto. It has a small but solid arts community. The World of Threads Festival is one of the most important events in the town. We hire buses to bring art lovers from Toronto out to Oakville during the festival.
Downtown Oakville on Google Street View
Oakville Harbour on Google Street View
- How do I get updates about the Festival?
Subscribe Here. - How many submissions do you get?
On average we receive about 300 submissions each festival. - If I exhibited last time can I get in again?
Absolutely. - Can I submit more than one application?
Yes, you can submit as many as you want. - If I didn't get in last time, do I have a chance this time?
Yes. If you submit new work we will be looking with fresh eyes. - What form can the work take?
We accept regular 2-D work, wall works, sculpture, installation, and live performance. If submitting performance we need to see video of it. We are not able to exhibit sound or video work. - What kinds of media have you exhibited?
Paper, quilting, weaving, hooking, knitting, embroidery, lace making, crocheting, felting, mixed media, soft sculpture, wearable art, basketry and recycling materials. We are also open to "fibre inspired" artwork like painting, bronze, plastics, wood etc. - What do you mean by "fibre inspired"?
This is a term we coined to encompass artworks that use the techniques, forms or history of fibre arts but are not made from traditional soft or perishable fibre materials. (See Memento mori exhibition), - What Counts as Fibre Art?
Fibre art is incredibly diverse and our definition is continuously shifting. We are open-minded. Our website has hundreds of examples of fibre artwork located under Artist Interviews and Artwork. Generally fibre art is made from perishable materials that use traditional techniques that include, sewing, tapestry and papermaking. However, more and more artists are using synthetic materials. - What Doesn’t Count as Fibre Art?
We would probably not include works on paper that are essentially drawing or painting, unless the paper itself is somehow being manipulated. If you are unsure if your work counts as “fibre” please contact the Festival Chair: Dawne Rudman. - Do you have opening receptions?
Yes! We have had hundreds of guests attend our openings. We also have buses that we rent to drive people from Toronto. - Can I sell my artwork?
Yes. - Is the artwork insured while on display?
All work displayed at Queen Elisabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre is insured. - What is an Artist Statement?
An Artist Statement is a description of your artwork and art practice. You are telling the story of your artwork. Ex: Gareth Bate - What is the difference between a Bio and a CV?
A CV is a chronological listing of your career achievements. A bio is a narrative outlining your career path, purpose for making art, etc. Some of the information is the same, but it is presented as a narrative. It should be written in third person.
Examples: Carolyn Dinsmore | Gareth Bate - Will you acknowledge my submission and payment?
Yes, give us a about a week to sort through the submissions and we will let you know that we received everything. - Will I get feedback on my submission?
Due to the number of submissions received, we don't offer feedback about work or submissions. - When will I know if I have been accepted? We will notify you, either way, be the end of June 2016.
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Festival 2012: The Gallery: Quiet Zone exhibition.
How to Submit
Three Options for Submitting
Body of Work – Maximum 10 pieces + details.
Individual Pieces – Maximum 10 pieces + details.
Installations – Maximum 10 pieces + details and renderings.
Eligibility
We are open to artists from all countries.
All artwork must have been made after March 2014 (the date of our last call for submissions)
All work must be available for exhibition during the Festival: October 29 – November 27, 2016 and the two weeks prior and after these dates for installation and take down.
No entry can be withdrawn from the exhibition once it has been accepted. All work must be original – No patterns or commercial kits are acceptable.
Artists cover the cost of shipping.
Submission Fee: $42
The submission fee covers our costs and time for processing the submissions. This fee covers a maximum of ten pieces (10 full images and 10 details). If you would like to submit an additional round of pieces you may do another submission by paying an additional $42. Submission fees are non-refundable.
Why we have a submission fee:
The World of Threads Festival as a whole is organized by two dedicated volunteers. It is a not-for-profit organization. Because we don't have the revenue of a gallery we need to charge submission fees to make this event happen. We do not have the money to pay artist fees. Running the festival involves paying for exhibition space, promotional materials, professional installers, installation materials, liability insurance for the galleries, sponsored buses, opening receptions, to name a few. We receive a small grant that helps to cover our annual costs but is not sufficient to run an international art festival.
Festival 2012: Memento Mori exhibition.
Submission Process
1) Basic Info
2) Support Material
3) Image List
4) Images
5) Send Your Entry
6) Pay Submission Fee
1) Basic Info
FORMAT: Word Doc/x submitted via email.
Provide the following information:
Your Name:
Phone Number (home, mobile):
Email:
Website:
City: Province/State:
Country:
What type of Submission are you sending?
i) Body of Work
ii) Individual Pieces
iii) Installation
Other Info: Does your work require any special installation? (Give details)
Are you available to help install the work yourself?
Has the work been exhibited in the Greater Toronto Area before? If so where and when?
Payment Method:
PayPal
International Money Order
2) Support Material:
FORMAT: Word Doc/x submitted via email.
Make sure your name and contact info are at the top of each page.
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Bio (200 words. In third person, explain your artistic career and background as it relates to your submitted work.)
Artist Statement (You can submit multiple statements if necessary.)
3) Image List
FORMAT: Word Doc/x submitted via email.
Make sure your name and contact info is at the top of the page.
Describe each image:
Title, Date, Dimensions (H x W x D cm), Medium (Do not say mixed-media, please indicate what it is made of). Technique (e.g. woven tapestry).
Indicate if the work is framed or mounted.
The image list should look like this:
IMAGE LIST
1) Woven Dreams, 2015, 24 H x 32 W x 1D cm, cotton warp, mixed weft including: jute, linen, metallic threads, raffia, silk, synthetic and wool, Technique: Haute-lisse (aka Vertical or High warp) Woven Tapestry. Framed.
2) Detail: Woven Dreams, 2015, 24 H x 32 W x 1D cm, cotton warp, mixed weft including: jute, linen, metallic threads, raffia, silk, synthetic and wool, Technique: Haute-lisse (aka Vertical or High warp) Woven Tapestry. Framed.
4) Images
Note: Submitted attached in an email.
Maximum 10 images (per submission).
Submit one detail image for every piece submitted. (So a total of 20 images.)
jpgs only. (No TIFF or PSD files)
Saved as 72 dpi resolution. Do not save as 300 dpi resolution.
Maximum 1024 pixels wide.
If submitting an installation you may submit multiple images.
Jpg titles must correspond to the image list. Please indicate when an image is a detail.
Jpgs should be numbered and labeled like this:
001-title-your-name.jpg
002-detail-title-your-name.jpg
Documentation Guidelines:
High quality documentation is more likely to be accepted.
Please do not photograph work against black or coloured backgrounds. Ideally all work should be photographed against a white backdrop. Why? Coloured and dark backgrounds are very misleading from our perspective since the work is displayed against white walls. If you do submit with coloured backgrounds we may ask you to submit an informal context photo showing what the work looks like ordinarily.
Please include the edges of all artwork. Do not crop the edges, show us the full form. This is crucial for fibre work. We need to be able to understand what we are looking at.
We may ask you individually to submit an informal "in context" photo if we have trouble visualizing the work or understanding the scale.
If framed or mounted, it would be helpful if you submit an informal photo with the frame or backing visible. This is extra and doesn't need to count as one of your 20 images.
5) Send Your Entry
In the email subject line write:
Your Name: 2016 Submission 1
Applications must arrive by Sunday, April 30, 2016 at 12:00 Midnight.
Applications submitted after this time will not be accepted.
6) Pay Submission Fee
Methods of Payment:
PayPal: To pay via PayPal click below:
Note: The PayPal button says, “donate” – this is because we are a not for profit organization. International Money Order (payable to World of Threads Festival) Awesome! We look forward to seeing your new work!
Awesome! We look forward to seeing your new work!
Do you have questions?
First check our Frequently Asked Questions.
Email Dawne Rudman: dawne@worldofthreadsfestival.com