Changing Threads 2024

We are happy to share that our lacemaker’s work was selected for Changing Threads 2024 (@yvetteslabbertletslace). The Changing Threads Contemporary Fibre Textile Award Exhibition will be on display at Refinery ArtsSpace in Nelson from 17 May – 15 June 2024. 

CONNECTING THREADS

An installation by Family Making Things

Connecting Threads by Family Making Things was shown at The Sculpture Park, Waitakaruru Arboretum, Scotsman Valley Rd, Tauwhare, from 13 November 2021 until 28 February 2022.

Statement: Connecting Threads

Thread, string, cord, and rope have rich cultural associations and histories.  In many cultures it has both practical and symbolic significance, often representing a continuation of life, destiny, and a link between inner, outer, and other worlds. 

The idea of thread running through our lives to connect past, present, and future, comes from various cultural and mythological sources, and it is still relevant today.  

In our multi-cultural changing world, the threads that connect us to one another and the world around us, are compassion, understanding, empathy, acceptance, collaboration, and working together as equals.  

Connecting Threads is rooted in the history of thread and rope and inspired by the prophetic saying of the first Māori King, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero: … through the eye of the needle pass the white thread, the black thread, and the red thread…

Makers’ Market 24 July 2021

Family Making Things will be at the Makers’ Market @wallacegallerymorrinsville this Saturday 24 July in Morrinsville – with hatstands by our woodturner and quilts by the quiltmaker. 

Family Making Things – Passing On Tradition 

 Exhibition at ArtsPost Galleries, 120 Victoria Street, Hamilton

Wall quilts by Norma Slabbert,  bobbin lace by Yvette Slabbert,  woodturning by Mauritz Slabbert

Our family makes things.  While we share a name and a passion for making, we have each mastered a diverse range of skills: Mauritz in woodturning, Norma in quiltmaking, and Yvette in bobbin lacemaking.

As makers we share a sense of attachment and dedication to materials and process.  Our work speaks of a long and slow production time and many years of practice. The end products may allude to notions of function and use; but it is also infused with personal ideas, creativity, and aesthetic choices.

We value the inherent imperfections of the human hand while focussing on craftsmanship, detail, and tactility. Every piece we make shows involvement, immersive work habits, hours of contemplation, and the spiritual power of repetition.

While our work is made in the spirit of our times and with the advantages of new tools and technologies, it is based on age-old techniques that honour tradition and skills that are passed down through many generations.

With this exhibition our family hopes to pass on the cultural heritage, the joy of making, and the inspiration to keep the making skills alive. And we would like to share the benefits that making has on the health and well-being of the older person.

In the spirit of passing on the skills and techniques, both Yvette and Norma will spend time in the galleries to give a talk and demonstrate their making techniques.

Gallery talk by Yvette and Norma: Sunday, 8 and 15 December, 11am.

Informal demonstrations by Yvette and Norma: Sunday 8 and 15 December, 12-3pm

Please check the ArtsPost Galleries website for opening times. http://waikatomuseum.co.nz/artspost/

Free entry