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24 Artscene · WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009 Fibre festival largest yet By Tina Depko OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Creativity. Dedication. Expression. Unexpectedness. This is what people who venture out to the sixth World of Threads Festival can expect, says Jane Coryell, one of the event's organizers. The visual feast of fibre arts and crafts runs from Sept. 18 to Oct. 4 at venues across Oakville, This is the sixth year of the biennial festival. It is anticipated to be the best yet, with participation from more than 200 artists from 16 countries, including strong representation from provinces across Canada. "We are so excited about how huge it is this year," Coryell said. "We've never had this many exhibitions." Fibre arts encompasses a wide variety of art forms, such as knitting, wall hangings, sculpture, quilting, installations, hooking, lacemaking, knitting, weaving, embroidery, crocheting, paper-making, felting, wearable art and much more. "Fibre art includes anything that is being made with textiles or threads in traditional or contemporary ways," said Coryell, who is an Oakville fibre artist specializing in hand embroidery. "This festival is a celebration of artists who work in these media." A focal point of the World of Threads Festival is the international juried show called Common Thread. This year, there were 215 submissions from 16 countries. A jury narrowed down the submissions to 84 entries. This is a record number, Coryell said. "There is a high number of pieces we are displaying for this show," she said. "I think there were so many entries because of the previous successes of the festival and our website." Selected works for the juried show will be on display at Joshua Creek Heritage Art Centre, Towne Square Gallery and b42GALLERY. There will also be a Salon des Refusés at O'Connor MacLeod Hanna. "When the Impressionists got their first show, they were called the Salon des Refusés and that made history and so last year, for the first time, we had a Salon des Refusés, which were works that didn't make it into Common Thread by the jurors that we decided to display," she said. "The conversation that came from that was incredible." Local guilds working in fibre art are an integral part of the festival, Coryell said. "Since the first festival in 1998, the local fibre arts groups have been involved, members have been organizers, guilds have made donations and they have participated in exhibi- FANTASTIC FIBRE: Among the featured artists in the World of Threads Festival are (clockwise from top) tions," she said. See Festival page 26 Fuyuke Matsubara, Judith Maher and Jessica Marie Barr.