Artworks and processes by (from top left, clockwise) Almudena González, Emy Parra, Gal Gelbard, Sara Ortiz, and Andrea Ayala
October comes round very quickly after the summer and the start a new year of lecturing in Applied Arts at the Escola Massana Art School in Barcelona is always exciting.
As workshop leader, responsible for the Textile Module of the Postgraduate course, it´s fascinating to see how each year group evolves in different ways every year. As a postgraduate course the Massana course is particularly interesting, with students from diverse creative backgrounds – such as Industrial Design, Fine Art, Graphic Design or Photography (as well as students with non-traditional pathways into creative practic) come together. Each year there is a mix of Spanish and international students which is also stimulating. The course is unusual, in that as well as students specialising in one of the modules (Textiles, Glass/Ceramics or Jewellery) – they also have the opportunity to take part in Texile or Jewellery workshops in Term I. Hybrid projects are encouraged on the course and it means that students can really get the most out of learning from different specialists in the different fields and develop their work in new ways.
Each creative discipline has its own methodology, but often students are either near or complete novices, in terms of woven textile techniques as that´s not pre-requisite for study. Nor is technical mastery expected in a one-year postgraduate course, although the level reached by hard-working students is often impressive – matched by their ability to develop their own creative languages.
For many students – regardless of their creative background – it´s also the first time they will have experienced “Textile Thinking” in practice – a methodology I use on the course, involving merging conceptual / theoretical knowledge with hands-on, haptic knowledge gained by transforming textile threads and materials in a reflective and critical way. For me, facilitating and encouraging final projects using this methodology is the most interesting part of the course, enabling students discover their own textile language to express concepts and ideas that are precious to them, and relevant to the wider world and societies we live in.
This year the Massana has produced a short video postgraduate course (link below) – so why not polish up your Spanish (or Catalan) and spend a year in Barcelona to focus on developing your creative skills and learning how to learn and adapt loom-weaving to create dynamic, Contemporary Textil Art.
Anna Champeney
