Introduction to Kumihimo Braiding (Beginner)
Update: This workshop has sold out.
Please email Isabelle Sain (isain@textilemuseum.ca) to be added to the waitlist.
Friday, March 6, 13, & 20 | 1-4 PM
FREE
Our sustainability workshop series, Second Life, returns with the third iteration of the series with featured artist Shiemara Hogarth. Hogarth will be facilitating a beginner Kumihimo Braiding workshop.
This workshop introduces participants to kumihimo, a traditional Japanese braiding practice with a long history in textiles and adornment. Starting with an introduction to the history of kumihimo, participants will receive hands-on guided practice with basic braiding methods to make simple braided lengths. Utilizing fabric strips and yarns from the Reuse Program, this 3-hour workshop will provide participants the opportunity to gain an understanding of the connection between sustainability and traditional craft processes by working with reclaimed and repurposed supplies.
Participants will have the opportunity to create their own small textile ornament, applying the techniques learned to a finished object.
This workshop is designed for beginners. No prior experience is required, and all materials are provided. Participants will receive step-by-step hands-on guidance and support throughout the session, ensuring a comfortable and confident learning experience.
Facilitator Bio
Shiemara Hogarth is a Jamaican-born textile artist and designer based in Brampton, Ontario. Her practice explores migration, ancestry, and place through textiles, examining how memory, identity, and belonging are formed and sustained.
Working across weaving, quilting, embroidery, digital printing, and sculptural forms, Hogarth combines traditional craft with contemporary processes. Her research-driven approach involves investigating historical archives, interviewing community members, and analyzing material culture to translate cultural narratives into tactile, participatory experiences.
Her work has been exhibited nationally, including at Craft Ontario Gallery. The Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship supported her MFA thesis project, Personal Geographies. In addition to her studio practice, Hogarth contributes to public programming and conversations around craft, community, and cultural heritage.
About Second Life: Sustainable Textile Workshops
‘Second Life: Sustainable Textile Workshops’ is a series of free; sustainability focused workshops developed with the Textile Museum of Canada and contemporary local artists. The series converges ecological thinking with art-making opportunities for our community. Starting in January, each month, the Museum will bring in an artist who confronts the climate crisis by rethinking materials and reimagining textile processes, decolonial methodologies, and sustainable craft traditions. Together, artist and participants will reform reused materials to create new works of art through a variety of techniques. These textile-focused artistic mediums will include weaving, embroidery, crocheting, quilting, natural dyeing, felting, upcycled fashion, or mixed-media fiber practices.
This program was generously funded by Canada Council for the Arts.
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