Living There
Modern Day Wall Art and Tapestries : Where To Go To Find The Perfect Textile Art
The art form of tapestry and fabric wall art is alive and well. In fact, it thrives. If you are interested in finding a unique wall art piece for your home, there are many large-scale events across the United States and the world where you can go find these treasures. With a bit of planning and some wanderlust, you can explore the oodles of impressive artisans around the globe. At these large meetings, hundreds of textile experts converge in one spot where you can see the unbelievable creativity and trends in textile design and art. If you like you can take seminars and learn how to craft your own fabric wall arts. It is truly amazing what technology and design have brought to textile art over the past decades. Here are some of the big events where you can see what is going on in the world of fabric wall art.
New York International Gift Fair This is likely the mother of all textile trade shows with over 40,000 exhibitors in all areas from fashion to home wares (all textile stuff). Here vendors come from all over the globe so it is a good show to go to if you cannot get to some of the others in Europe.
Creative Textile Show (Australia):
This show may be one of the more hands-on shows where the focus is on your own creativity and learning how to make your own fabric and mixed media creations. The only drawback is, you have to get to the land of Oz. But what treasures there must be to find here!
San Francisco Tribal and Textile Arts Show:
show that focuses on the skills and design techniques of the native peoples of what is now California, one can find inspiration and unique items for their home. Here you will likely find not only traditional items, but modern tribal people’s current work. This would be a really good place to get something made by living history! Pretty awesome!
Maison & Objet:
If you have a choice, this is the show to go to. It sports events in Paris, Asia and the Americas so it is probable that one of their shows will be in a place you want to visit! Here you can find textile arts, tapestries and wall art galore. Of course, it is always good to check who the exhibitors will be, but it is almost certain that your dream textile art piece will be at one of these shows.
Seattle Gift Show:
While not as large as other events, this show has a good showing in the categories of food, gifts, handcrafted, home and garden, clothing and more. If you are looking for wall art, the home and garden section is where you are likely to find current tapestry artisans displaying their own designs and work.
Toronto Gift Fair:
One of Canada’s biggest events, if offers access to many handcrafted fabric arts, although it also features other kinds of gifts. It is recommended that you check the vendor and exhibitor list to be sure what you are looking for will be represented this year. It seems that this show is very “Canadian”, meaning it may not have vendors from other places in large numbers.
Perhaps textile and wall arts like tapestries are not mainstream yet, but they are not counterculture either. With a bit of effort and patience, you can locate a tapestry for your home or even find an artist to create one for you. With the aid of computers and amazing textile design software programs, designers are creating all sorts of amazing pieces.
