Books and more books

When Selvedge magazine first started crowdfunding for the first World Textiles Fair to be held in London, it instantly became the thing I had to go to. As I watched things unfold and dates finally be settled, I hunted hotels and flight prices.

The last weekend I was in the UK - for Unravel - I was still waiting for the workshops and talks to be announced before booking flights. I’d reserved hotels and was already to plan a full week of the Textiles Fair, the V&A, The Fashion and Textiles Museum, possibly the British Museum and my other favourite (besides the V&A) - Tate Modern.

Tate Modern is hosting a a must see exhibition of Magdalena Abakanowicz’s large textile sculptures, due to finish September 13th. Her sculptures were a huge influence when I was doing my degree and her work has remained a firm favourite since. With the World Textile Fair on during the first week of September, it was going to be a solid week of research and immersion in all things textiles, pattern and soft sculpture.

As I head home from that weekend in the UK, I flew into lockdown and everything ground to a halt. And in due time I became mighty glad that I hadn’t booked my flights even though I’ve been checking weekly to see whether maybe just maybe it could be a thing. But in all honesty, given the UK’s approach to the pandemic and the poor measures in place, a packed fair in London would be the last place I’d want to be within the coming year.

To commiserate, I figured I’d spend some of the flight and hotel budget on books. Books about the things I was due to see and learn about. For a long time, since I lost my teaching job really, and since I’ve been this Hat designer person, I’ve not been able to afford many books. Have you seen the price of some of those books? Beautiful pieces come with a price tag. Couple that with living in a what is essentially a damp, tiny metal box that’s about as unfriendly to books as it gets, I’m way behind on books (when I was at Goldsmiths I promised myself that I’d buy a book a month… and, well, 20 years later that’s an awful lot of books that I’ve failed my promise on).

I’m not a fan of buying books per se… for fiction or patterns, I prefer digital every time. But when it comes to reference books - techniques, history, theory, Art, resources - I’ll go with paper. I won’t read them cover to cover in one go (there wouldn’t be much point, given what I’ve learnt about my memory function) but they’re there for me to dip in and out of as needed, to remind me what it is that I love about textiles and why it is that I do this job. It might not seem obvious at first, but this isn’t a genre that can be untangled or unravelled - an appreciation for weaving, pattern or soft sculpture all feeds the work that I do.

I’m gutted to be missing the World Textile Fair and just as gutted to be missing the Magdalena Abakanowicz exhibition. But I am very much appreciating that business can now afford to buy a few of the books that will feed it’s soul. In lots of ways it feels like such a frivolous thing to do, yet I’m still getting change from that planned week in London, which is helpful right now, too.

The books are coming at a time when I really need some inspiration, something to pour over and admire. Something to recharge my creative batteries. My mental health is all over the place but essentially, it’s not great and flooding myself this way has gotta be a good thing. Maybe one day I’ll work my way through my Amazon wish list but for now, I’m content with adding to my shelves.