Come and see us at the Signature section of Maison & Objet, H7, Stand C72 (SACO)
24-28 March, 2022
Anna will be at the stand personally on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 March
Maison & Objet, Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre
Opening hours:
Thursday to Sunday, 9.30am to 7pm..
Monday: 9.30am to 6pm.
Come and get to know our textiles in this “pop-up” exhibition 2-29 March 2022 in the Biblioteca Miquel Marti i Pol, Pl. de Rafel Masó, 2, 17150 Sant Gregori, El Gironés.
Sant Gregori (Girona). The exhibition will feature a selection of pieces from our core collections. You´ll have a rare opportunity to see handwoven samples and prototypes from the studio´s archives and meet Anna in person.
Anna will be at the exhibition on the 19 March to lead a guided visit, suitable for all publics, to give you unique insights into her design work and the craft design philosophy which underpins everything the studio does. Book your place free.
Thanks for featuring our merino throws, Spain for Design, in your online feature! / Muchas gracias por incluirnos en el articulo “10 best blankets to snuggle up in”.
The UK has devoted years to develop an international image based on the quality and identity of its contemporary craft and design. But until now Spain´s best designers and makers have gone almost unrecognised. Spain for Design plans to change that. About time too!
El Reino Unido ha dedicado muchos años a fomentar una identidad internacional enfocada al diseño y artesanía contemporánea de calidad. Pero fuera (y también dentro) del país, las creaciones y marcas de diseño artesanal van casi despercibidas.
Spain for Design quiere cambiar esto y dar a conocer la calidad de productos diseñadas y elaboradas en España. !Enhorabuena!
See us in Signature, MAISON ET OBJET 2022 (Hall 7 – Stand C72)
If you´re in Barcelona in December come to see us at Festivalet.
It´s one of the city´s favourite christmas design and contemporary craft fairs and is back after an absence of 2 years.
Selling direct to the public, this design and craft fair is in a new venue, in the vibrant Fabra & Coats building in the Sant Andreu area – a short hop on the metro from the city centre. It reminds me of the Custard Factory in Birmingham, the UK, where I used to work. A similar concept – using previous industrial buildings as art and design venues.
This year you´ll find all our favourite textiles – our soft merino throws and blankets, baby blankets with natural dyes, and limited edition cashmere and merino wool scarves. All with our graphic, contemporary designs.
So come and find solutions for christmas – and support talented Spanish and Catalan makers and designers with your purchases.
How to get to Festivalet
Metro: L1 (Sant Andreu)
Bus: 11, 40, N9, H4, H8 i 126
Train (Renfe): Sant Andreu Comtal
Brexit – we are sorry not to be able to supply our direct clients in the UK any more
However, just as many small businesses in the UK are unable to supply clients direct in Europe post Brexit we are unable to supply private clients in the UK via our website any more. This is a direct result of Britain leaving the EU – the additional burocracy, costs, difficultings with shipping, simply cannot be supported by a small craft-based company like ours. Nor will we be able to participate in shows such as Made London. We´re very sorry about this, it´s the inevitable result of leaving the European trading block.
(Eng/Castellano) We´re delighted to announce in our September 2021 journal that Anna Champeney is to join textile artist, Francisca Piñol and Nuria Bitria as lecturer in woven textiles at the Escola Massana, one of Spain´s best known and established Art Schools / Es un placer anunciar en el diario de Septiembre 2021 que Anna Champeney se une a Francesca Piñol y Nuria Bitria como docente de diseño y arte textil en la Escola Massana, Barcelona.
Piñol is known internationally for her creative art textiles and Jacquard weaving. And Bitria is synonymous with the Teixidors, as the high end weave company´s Creative Director. Both have been instrumental in establishing a focus on woven textiles as a discipline at the Massana Art School. / Piñol está conocido tanto al nivel nacional como internacional por el arte textil y también por tejidos Jacquard. Y Bitria es sinónima con Teixidors, donde trabaja como directora creativa. Ambas han jugado un papel importante para establecer tejido en telar de bajo lizo como disciplina especializada el nivel del grado y posgrado en la Escola Massana, Barcelona.
Anna Champeney will be joining the team led by Piñol and Bitria at the Escola Massana in the heart of Barcelona as lecturer in textiles as the special subject on the MA offered in Contemporary Applied Arts. / Anna Champeney empieza en octubre 2021 como docente del tejido en telar de bajo lizo, en el taller especializado ofrecido como parte del Masters de Artes Aplicadas Contemporáneas.
Anna comments, “For two decades I´ve been an admirer of the Massana Art School and the teaching post will give me the chance to share my skills and philosophy and encourage textile creatives as well as introducing those from other disciplines to weave. My hope is to open up a vision of the multiple possibilities of weave by encouraging a deep curiosity for the interactions between textile materials and processes. The aim? To really get in close to weave and understand how a thorough grounding in the essential techniques and reactions between threads on the loom can act as a springboard for creative work with integrity and depth”. / Anna comenta “Durante más de 2 décadas he sido gran admiradora de la Escuela Massana en Catalunya y el nuevo trabajo me permitirá compartir el conocimiento que tengo como diseñadora y artesana textil, y conocer y animar a estudiantes no sólo del mundo textil si no de otros campos. Espero poder fomentar una visión de las múltiples posibilidades que ofrece la creación de tejidos en telar de bajo lizo, a través de una curiosidad profunda para descubrir y las interacciones entre materiales y procesos. ¿El objectivo? Acercarse al mundo textil y usar el acercamiento al material para crear muestras creativas i originales que más adelante pueden preparar el estudiante para proyectos más avanzados”.
The Massana proposes the postgraduate program of study to “provide a space and a time for growth and maturation in skills and mastery of techniques and materials, while offering a shared place for reflection on the contemporary role of applied arts and their role in today’s world, from a transdisciplinary approach and in the common territory of arts and design”.
Interestingly, the MA course is open to both university degree holders and established high level professional craft makers who have taken an alternative route into contemporary making to that offered by universities.
The MA is an excellent opportunity to experience the rigorous and exploratory world of university level teaching and making, with its emphasis on critical thinking, collaborative working and discussion and presentation of work. And for graduates it offers the possibility of experiencing the world of professional makers who are out in the market place.
And of course, being in Barcelona, it´s an extremely attractive proposition for international students as well as Spanish students. What an exciting city to spent a year in as an international art student and immerse oneself in culture, art, design and of course the Catalan culture in Spain.
Sobre el Postgrado: El Postgrado en Artes Aplicadas Contemporáneas que ofrecen la Escola Massana y la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona propone una formación que va más allá de los planteamientos disciplinares en el entorno de las Artes Aplicadas. Así, se orienta a estudiantes y profesionales vinculados a los campos de la artesanía, el diseño y las artes en general, y puede resultar de interés para graduados en Bellas Artes, Arquitectura, Diseño o Humanidades, para titulados de ciclos formativos en escuelas de arte y de diseño, así como para profesionales en activo sin formación universitaria.
El itinerario formativo es eminentemente práctico. Su centro de gravedad reside en las actividades que se desarrollan en los talleres a los que cada estudiante puede optar: Arte Textil, Joyería y Artes del fuego (Cerámica y Vidrio). El Postgrado facilita un espacio y un tiempo de crecimiento y maduración en las habilidades y el dominio de las técnicas y materiales, al tiempo que propone un lugar compartido para la reflexión sobre la función contemporánea de las artes aplicadas y su papel en el mundo actual, desde un enfoque transdisciplinar y en el territorio común de las artes y el diseño.
A nivel de desarrollo profesional, el Postgrado en Artes Aplicadas Contemporáneas promueve la realización de proyectos personales con un alto grado de implicación social, ecológica y creativa, optimizando los recursos que ofrecen las prácticas de las artes y el diseño. Su mirada interdisciplinar promueve, a su vez, la capacidad de nuevos y nuevas artesanas para el trabajo en equipos multiprofesionales vinculados a campos como los de la arquitectura, el diseño de producto, las artes visuales, la moda, el audiovisual, las artes escénicas y otros quizás aún por emerger. Se trata de generar oportunidades que desemboquen en una trayectoria profesional creativa.
As an ex-curator of contemporary craft and design myself (in the UK in the 1990s) I am particularly drawn to Yael´s sensitivity for selecting and displaying unique – often hand-made objects in her styling work. Our love of natural tactile, high quality design is another thing we have in common.
Although the heavy paperwork and additional costs of the (ha ha) “frictionless borders” have prevented us from collaborating at the moment I do hope we can work together in future.
I hope you enjoy our conversation..
I formed plainHjem studio about a year ago…. I have always had a great love of design … it took some courage and conviction to take the plunge and make it into a career. As I was never particularly keen on social media, my first task was to engage with Instagram (plainhjem.design) and I must say it has given me great joy as I effectively use it as my scrap book, a place to tag my own designs as well as the wonderful and varied creative work of others’.
Establishing oneself in this new field is challenging enough in ‘normal’ times so setting up a new studio during a pandemic is optimistic and a little crazy! Alongside taking on residential projects as plainHjem I also freelance for another studio and that has been great as I love working with people and collaborating on creative projects.
It has to be a mid-century Danish furniture piece as I have a deep passion and admiration for Scandinavian design of the era. So many of the pieces are timeless, iconic and masterfully designed and built. I spent some of my childhood in Copenhagen, Denmark and I think that is where I developed an appreciation of Scandinavian design. I have a particular weakness for chairs and daybeds and my all time favourite chair is the Seal (Salen) chair by Ib Kofod Larsen. It’s the curved arms and the incline that is so beautiful as well as the wonderful teak wood frame.
It is hard to fully appreciate but there is no doubt that Brexit is and will continue to have an impact on the sector. I have always sourced beautiful objects, furniture and textiles from smaller, perhaps less established, designers and makers without any consideration to their geographical origin as long as it was within the EU. This is no longer the case as there are various extra charges and tedious paperwork that make these transactions much more complicated and costly. I am very hopeful that with time, a better and fairer system can be established so that both makers and designers can work together collaboratively without ‘borders’. Only time will tell…
There is absolutely no doubt that the pandemic is impacting design though again, we are still very much ‘in it’ and some time away from it, to reflect and evaluate, may bring new insights. For instance, the need to have a dedicated space to work from home means that people are keen to carve out an office space, sit/stand desks are in high demand, and maybe we are moving back to slightly less ‘open plan’ and more ‘broken’ spaces that confer greater flexibility.
I think this is a highly commendable approach and both designers and clients appreciate the time and thought taken to develop new designs and ‘feel the love’, the dedication and the craftsmanship that goes into making beautiful and unique textiles. It is an important process that cannot be hurried or done away with. I think most clients value this though not all have an understanding of the process and it is therefore the role of the designer to ‘educate’ clients on the merits of this approach.
I can’t quite recall when I came across Anna’s work as it was many years ago but possibly through a crafts fair in London. I definitely made a mental note to remember Anna’s work as I immediately looked her up when an interior project came along and I felt that her pieces are right for the project and the space.
I LOVE the Optic pattern as I am generally not a pattern person but do love stripes. Moreover, the colour combination in Anna’s weaves speak to my love of the Scandinavian palette, and some do feel very mid-century inspired and very pleasing to me.
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