Lace biennale

The biennale exhibition in the gymnasium in Vamberk was excellent. There was a lot of non traditional work this year including this piece made using a glue gun and other pieces using metal and Perspex. Eva Damborska also had a piece in the exhibition made of recycled materials. The traditional pieces were amazing and showed interesting use of stitches and threads. Most of the collars and shawls were displayed hanging from one point which gave them an interesting three dimensional look but made them difficult to photograph.

Exhibition at Lanskrou

The exhibition at Lanskrou showed the work of Hana Kozubova. Her work was varied and included stylised pictorial pieces of buildings, linen hangings that had been slit with lace included in them and some tapestries. My favourite pieces were three panels entitled Zrozeni triptych of interesting morn bobbin lace. I liked the way she had combined different stitches and reworked traditional stitches, there was a lot to mull over in the pieces.

Alena Cechova’s exhibition

This exhibition was also in the Castle at Rychnov. I had seen some of Alena’s work before at the Lace Museum but it was good to see it more closely. She works in needle lace and darned net. I like the way she combines threads to make interesting colour combinations and give depth to her work. I am also interested in the themes behind her work, she was exhibiting a series based on the French lady and the unicorn tapestries and had some other works showing people trapped and trying to escape.

Eva Damborska’s exhibition

This exhibition was held at Rychnov Castle and we were lucky enough to attend the preview evening after the fashion show and meet Eva Damborska. She explained that all her work is made from recycled materials. I liked her work and was interested in the use she had made of paper. Most of her work is on a large scale and a lot of it is made in units that she combines to make a larger whole, something I like to do in my own work.

Fashion show at Rychnov Castle

This fashion show takes place in the Riding School at Rychnov. It is accompanied by music and uses professional models and dancers. It is always interesting to see how they display the clothes. This year they were using collars as belts and shawls as skirts. Many of the clothes are produced by the fashion students from Prague.

Lace Museum at Vamberk

We spent most of the first day sketching in the Museum. On the ground floor there was a new display of work by Milca Eremiasova. A lot of her new work consists of flat forms that have been manipulated to make three dimensional shapes. I prefer her older more detailed work which depicts drapery so beautifully. Upstairs the modern lace display had been restage since we were last there.

Vamberk trip

We travelled to Vamberk for the biennial lace meeting and exhibition from 26 to 30 June 2008. We stayed at the Hotel Havel in Rychnov and this piece by Eva Filarova is in the hotel lobby there. There were several interesting international stands at the meeting and an exhibition by Marina Regueiro, Maria Bissacco Cociani, and Jana Stefkova. Marina showed traditional Spanish lace, Maria exhibited some lovely shawls, bags and clothes decorated with lace, and Jana showed some of her work including her head pieces made of interesting braids, some of which I sketched in the Museum.