XTANT ROOTS 2024 PALMA DE MALLORCA TEXTILES AND FIBRES WORLD HERITAGE CELEBRATION
BY KAVITA PARMAR & MARCELLA
ECHAVARRIA – Wild Fibers
Presentation- 2024
9th – 13 May 2024
A global gathering to celebrate the art in craft, to share knowledge around heritage textile traditions & discuss regenerative practices. A destination for all textile enthusiasts, collectors, artisans, educators, interior designers, makers and fibre artists.
XTANT was built out of gratitude for having spent an entire career enraptured by the beauty of heritage textiles. We find this world under imminent threat by the industrialisation of Craft. As words like artisan and sustainable became ubiquitous, the excellence in each of the communities was in the hands of the last generation. Hidden from the mainstream, sometimes even used as a pretty decoy but mostly dismissed as inconsequential and something unscalable hence irrelevant, for us is the exact opposite.
Heritage textiles are alive and are at the perfect scale: The Human scale. It felt urgent to bring together this community in an inspirational setting, celebrate this unique diverse language, share our love and inspire the world at large, as humanity needs this more than ever. Hopeful and ambitious , XTANT is an invitation to all.
Putting down roots
Each year the show adopts a different title; for the fifth edition, set for 9-13 May 2024, the leitmotif is ROOTS. The event’s two fearsomely dynamic organisers, Kavita Parmar and Marcella Echavarria, are keen to draw all possible meanings from the term. ‘Far from looking fondly at the past as an isolated article, the examination it undertakes seeks to understand roots for what they truly are,’ explains Echavarria. ‘Not just origins, but continuous parts of a living organism, of coming to a closer holistic understanding of ourselves as both “everything” and “forever”.
The theme will be explored through a series of events, including talks, workshops and exhibitions. ‘Fostering Roots’ is the title of one talk led by Li Edelkoort and Suzanne Sugg, and another is called ‘Modern Wisdom, Ancient Roots: Remigio Mestas’, featuring Shamji Bhai Vankar being interviewed by Kavita Parmar. The workshops are also set to be a primary point of attraction for visitors; ‘Bandhani’ with Maestro Abdullah Khatri, ‘Weaving from Waste’ with Maria Sigma and ‘Nuno Silk’ with Laurine Malengreau are particular highlights.
As with the 2023 iteration, the event will take over several heritage patios throughout the heart of the historic and beautiful streets of Palma de Mallorca. Last year, there were a series of textile exhibitions, an interactive 3D textile weaving, and the main event where many makers were showing work.
XTANT aims to inspire new generations to value sustainability, personal identity, tradition and responsible consumption over commercial tendencies based on unbridled consumption. Parmar says, ‘The event offers many moments of reflection and communion with the unique, the beautiful and the long-lasting.’ With enriching conversations, workshops, meetings and rituals, XTANT’s community values foster a sense of togetherness and purpose in the fight for keeping textile traditions alive and promoting responsible making.
Words by COVER magazine
https://www.cover-magazine.com/2024/05/08/putting-down-roots-at-xtant/
- INFOS
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9th – 13 May 2024
A global gathering to celebrate the art in craft, to share knowledge around heritage textile traditions & discuss regenerative practices. A destination for all textile enthusiasts, collectors, artisans, educators, interior designers, makers and fibre artists.
XTANT was built out of gratitude for having spent an entire career enraptured by the beauty of heritage textiles. We find this world under imminent threat by the industrialisation of Craft. As words like artisan and sustainable became ubiquitous, the excellence in each of the communities was in the hands of the last generation. Hidden from the mainstream, sometimes even used as a pretty decoy but mostly dismissed as inconsequential and something unscalable hence irrelevant, for us is the exact opposite.
- ABOUT
-
Heritage textiles are alive and are at the perfect scale: The Human scale. It felt urgent to bring together this community in an inspirational setting, celebrate this unique diverse language, share our love and inspire the world at large, as humanity needs this more than ever. Hopeful and ambitious , XTANT is an invitation to all.
Putting down roots
Each year the show adopts a different title; for the fifth edition, set for 9-13 May 2024, the leitmotif is ROOTS. The event’s two fearsomely dynamic organisers, Kavita Parmar and Marcella Echavarria, are keen to draw all possible meanings from the term. ‘Far from looking fondly at the past as an isolated article, the examination it undertakes seeks to understand roots for what they truly are,’ explains Echavarria. ‘Not just origins, but continuous parts of a living organism, of coming to a closer holistic understanding of ourselves as both “everything” and “forever”.
The theme will be explored through a series of events, including talks, workshops and exhibitions. ‘Fostering Roots’ is the title of one talk led by Li Edelkoort and Suzanne Sugg, and another is called ‘Modern Wisdom, Ancient Roots: Remigio Mestas’, featuring Shamji Bhai Vankar being interviewed by Kavita Parmar. The workshops are also set to be a primary point of attraction for visitors; ‘Bandhani’ with Maestro Abdullah Khatri, ‘Weaving from Waste’ with Maria Sigma and ‘Nuno Silk’ with Laurine Malengreau are particular highlights.
As with the 2023 iteration, the event will take over several heritage patios throughout the heart of the historic and beautiful streets of Palma de Mallorca. Last year, there were a series of textile exhibitions, an interactive 3D textile weaving, and the main event where many makers were showing work.
XTANT aims to inspire new generations to value sustainability, personal identity, tradition and responsible consumption over commercial tendencies based on unbridled consumption. Parmar says, ‘The event offers many moments of reflection and communion with the unique, the beautiful and the long-lasting.’ With enriching conversations, workshops, meetings and rituals, XTANT’s community values foster a sense of togetherness and purpose in the fight for keeping textile traditions alive and promoting responsible making.
Words by COVER magazine
https://www.cover-magazine.com/2024/05/08/putting-down-roots-at-xtant/