The Republic of Hungary cordially invite you to this stunning exhibit.

Halas Lace – Over 100 Years
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, August 1-September 14, 2009

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum is delighted to announce the arrival of an acclaimed exhibit of international importance. Lauded in Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa, this exhibit offers a rich sampling of Hungarian Halas lace, one of the finest types of lace produced in Europe over the past century.

Developed in 1902 by designer Árpád Dékáni, Halasi Csipke (Halas lace) has become an important part of Hungarian folk art and gained international recognition for the quality of its workmanship and its unique construction, which combines delicate needlepoint lace with bolder fabric outlines.

This technique is an example of the creativity fostered by Hungary’s late nineteenth-century arts and crafts movement, which sought to re-invigorate native cottage industries with new designs. Thus, every piece of Halas lace is completely handcrafted, down to the hand-woven fabric that frames the intricate lace.

Halas lace has won numerous prizes at international competitions, ranging from the 1904 St. Louis World Fair and 1906 Milan International Exhibition to the 1937 International Craft Exhibition in Paris, where it surpassed the previously unchallenged lace of Brussels. Items made of Halas lace have also been presented as gifts of state to world leaders as diverse as the Roosevelts, Princess Julianne of the Netherlands, Pope John Paul II, Queen Elizabeth II, and Governor General Michaelle Jean.

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum and the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary cordially invite you to this stunning exhibit.

Come see for yourself why Halas lace is one of the most prized types of textile art in the world!

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum is located at 3 Rosamond Street East in Almonte, Ontario. For directions to the museum or questions about the exhibit please contact Michael Rikley-Lancaster, Curator at 613-256-3754 or mvtm@magma.ca

Michael Rikley-Lancaster
Curator
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
613-256-3754
mvtm@magma.ca
www.textilemuseum.mississippimills.com

Almonte's Puppets Up Festival

Welcome to the Puppets Up! International Puppet Festival
Please click on the post title to refer to the website for the Puppet Festival in Scenic Almonte,On(a 30 minute drive west of Ottawa). 2009 will mark the fifth year of this highly successful and entertaining puppet festival which was recently endorsed by the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

Show off your creative side- Take a course in Puppet Making

Puppet Making Workshops (August 4 to 7) Leave a Life-long Impression


ALMONTE (Town of Mississippi Mills) – Making a puppet from scratch is something few people will forget once they’ve tried it, says Noreen Young, Master Puppeteer and Artistic Director, of the Puppets Up! International Puppet Festival. And workshops with Noreen and visiting puppet experts have inspired both successful puppeteer careers and passionate hobbyists.

“There’s something about turning inanimate materials into something that literally comes to life in your hands,” says Young. “Personally, I never get tired of building puppets and adding new puppet characters to my collection.”

This year, Puppets Up! offers an extensive array of puppet workshops in advance of the festival itself featuring some of the world’s best puppet artists. Workshops commence on August 4 at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almonte and run until the festival begins on August 8. Workshops are for participants sixteen years of age and up.



Highlights of the workshop offering include:


*A 4-day workshop with Noreen Young on making hand and rod puppets with latex/rubber faces. Puppets like these made Noreen famous on TV and around the world!
*Stephanie Atkinson’s three-day workshop teaches students how to design, construct and manipulate a marionette. Puppets will be fabricated using a combination of papier mâché, wood and foam rubber.
*Ever considered expressing your creativity on, say, YouTube... using puppets? Trish Leper brings her years of experience, including stint with Jim Henson’s Muppets, to a 2-day workshop about the creative and technical aspects of television puppetry.
*Talk about recycling! James Ashby and Grey Muldoon (The Bricoteer Puppetry Project) will show you how to turn household and found objects into fantastic puppets during a one-day workshop.
*Art teacher, Stephanie Williams provides her own take on the same theme at another one-day workshop.
*Not only will she be on stage during the festival, but Kingston puppeteer Annie Milne, of Gentle Wings Puppet Theatre, will lead a one-day workshop about how to make a personal rod puppet using foam covered in fabric and wooden rods. Ask her about the huge Purple Dragon in her life.
*Master puppeteer Luman Coad says “Get A Life!”. He’ll teach a one-day workshop on how to really bring puppets to life for the stage.
With a song in his heart, puppeteer Ben Durocher will lead a one-day workshop on puppets in musical theatre. By the way, Ben was a finalist in the CBC’s “Triple Sensation” in 2008.

“We take full advantage of the world-class puppeteers who are coming to perform at Puppets Up!, along with our resident experts, says Young. “These workshops are absolutely magical.” Marta Singh, a story teller who will perform in the festival’s Telling Stories theatre shares Young’s enthusiasm for puppet making. “When I was still living in Buenos Aires, I took a weekend-long workshop. We had to make a puppet with our own hands, then breathe life into it. Holy Henry, I'll never forget that. It was, well, it was almost otherworldly!”

For more information about Puppet making workshops and the Puppets Up! festival visit www.puppetsup.ca


Media Contact: Susan Wright: (613) 730-2020 e-mail: susan@suzwright.com

Michael Rikley-Lancaster
Curator
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
613-256-3754
mvtm@magma.ca
www.textilemuseum.mississippimills.com

Mississippi Textile Museum needs your help!!

In September during the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum's Fibrefest in Almonte, a play called Quilting Pieces is being performed by the Valley Players. What we are looking for are quilts, whole or halves, finished or unfinished, to cut up and make into clothing and clothing accessories.


If you are able to help us out please contact the Museum's curator


Michael Rikley-Lancaster
Curator
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
613-256-3754
mvtm@magma.ca
www.textilemuseum.mississippimills.com

Public Notice

Attention Fabric Fans, History Buffs, and all Residents of the Town of Mississippi Mills and surrounding area:

For your information, this summer the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum will open its textile research library as a Public-Access (by appointment only) Reference Library.

Our Collection covers many aspects of the Local and International Textile Industries, with special strengths in industrial Wool Processing, hand-loom Weaving, the chemistry of Dyeing, the history of Fashion, and more. We would hope that everyone including, artisans, industry workers, students, antiquarians, and professional researchers alike will find our library a source of Useful and Fascinating Information.

We are pleased to announce that the Conservation and Cataloguing of our Rare and Specialized Collection is almost complete. However, we are still in need of sufficient shelving for our books and of a photocopying machine for the use of Visiting Researchers. Any monetary Donation, great or small, towards the purchase of these items or a donation of any of the stated items would be much appreciated.

Please join us as we strive to keep the Memory of Our Town’s Heritage alive!

Michael Rikley-Lancaster
Curator
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
613-256-3754
mvtm@magma.ca
www.textilemuseum.mississippimills.com

SWING YOUR PARTNER TO AND FRO

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum fundraiser Barn Dance was a huge success Not only bringing in Money for a good cause but also some toe tapping musicians who helped folks dance the night away. As you can see both young and old enjoyed the Wing Ding celebration