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Sienna Csunyoscka

Textile Symposium 2020

Capstone Seminar- report #1


I had the opportunity to witness a variety of people who work with textiles speak at the symposium held by the Textile Society of America from Oct. 15th – 17th, 2020. The overarching theme this year was “Hidden Stories, Human Lives”, which I thought was a relevant topic as many of us reflect on- and continue to live in- the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic, along with the scale of social and political unrest currently in the U.S.A.


I listened to talks each day and was exposed to a wide range of artists, makers, writers, and scholars. In particular, a session on Friday, Oct. 16th comprised of “individual papers” titled Craftivism attracted me. I’ve been curious about the word “craftivism” in various contexts since I wrote a research paper titled “Collective Craftivism: the Social and Political Context of Yarn-Bombing in Canada” for my art and design history class in 1st year (Spring, 2018)! Flash forward to this year- I seem to still be drawn to the idea and I wanted to see what the perspectives of this symposium could share. There were five people presenting their ideas, and each of them had a distinct subject to discuss. Most interesting to me and relevant to my thesis ideas was the presentation On Object-Made Quilts and Migrants’ Structural Textiles by artist and architect Zenovia Toloudi.

Zenovia focused her talk about a “quilt”/curtain she made that reflected her experience immigrating from Greece to the U.S. that was part of her installation called Mutant Moving Room. The installation was made of a collection of personal objects that were following a global path across different cities. The blocks were made of compressed plastic windows, each holding objects that were significant to her as well as objects eventually collected from other people she met claiming refugee status in America. “MMR discusses relationships of globalization, mobility, adaptation, and the self.” (Toloudi).

Mutant Moving Room (MMR) by Zenovia Toloudi (Chicago installation) https://zenovia.net/mmr.html

The work explores architectural elements with a series of common objects on display. The construction and installation of the “quilt” connected to the idea comparing walls to textiles. She referenced the German architect Gottfried Semper who had compared wickerwork to brick walls in a study from the 1800s (Hartoonian). This really interested me because it speaks to my work in dimensional construction with textiles. It makes me consider the scale of weaving and basket-type forms in relation to buildings in a city like Toronto, through the form of spatial and textile storytelling.


Zenovia emphasized the importance of surfaces in making and architecture and introduced several dualities she continues to explore in her projects, including:

  • mobile vs. static;

  • temporary vs. permanent;

  • the precious vs. the ordinary

This last duality referred most to items collected from the refugees she worked with to create MMR. She proposed the question “whose history is being celebrated?” I appreciated this question as it relates back to “craftivism”. The personal experience she carried into the piece was simultaneously political, and gradually transformed as she integrated the objects from other people’s lives into the panels. The installation seemed to both celebrate and question what the refugee experience in America looked like through material things.


Although my project is striving to focus on bees, the question of whose history is being celebrated consistently interests me. I believe it’s important as makers to consider where and how our work is being viewed and what conversations it creates. I want to emphasize the biodiversity and importance the lives of wild bees have in our local ecosystems. I hope their story and presence in Toronto inspires more people to become involved in nature connection and continue conversations too, whether about bees and other pollinators, how vital urban greenspaces are, or the interconnection of all living beings

In addition, Zenovia reflected on the method of making “something big, made out of small parts” and her example was of El Anatsui’s “metallic tapestries”:


Opening of Time (2019) by El Anatsui https://elanatsui.art/artworks/el-anatsui-opening-of-time-2019

I’ve had the privilege to see one of his works that’s installed at the ROM a while ago (different from the one shown above). His use of fragmented recycled materials sewn together is an approach to making I am also exploring in a way, as I gravitate towards reusing fabric pieces and found objects together in weaving and basket samples.

Overall, I was engaged by the clarity that Zenovia presented with and how she made such strong connections between her work and the world around us. At the time, while I was watching the symposium that weekend, I was absorbing a lot of diverse ideas- and still feel like I am digesting some of the enriching talks. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to be exposed to these ideas, even if it was through virtual connection!




Works Cited


El Anatsui. “Artworks- El Anatsui, Opening of Time, 2019” https://elanatsui.art/artworks/el-anatsui-opening-of-time-2019. Accessed 4th Nov., 2020


Hartoonian, Gevork. "The fabric of fabrication." Textile, vol. 4, no. 3, 2006, p. 270+. Gale Academic OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A175874436/AONE?u=ko_acd_shc&sid=AONE&xid=d84b90df. Accessed 4 Nov. 2020.


Textile Society of America. “Symposium 2020- Program.” https://textilesocietyofamerica.org/symposia/symposium-2020/program-2. Accessed 4th Nov, 2020


Toloudi, Zenovia. “Mutant Moving Room.” Zenovia Toloudi/Studio Z, 2013. https://zenovia.net/mmr.html. Accessed 4th Nov, 2020.

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