X BIENNIAL OF CONTEMPORARY TEXTILE ART “WTA 25 YEARS”

25 YEARS WTA

25 Years WTA”, and the history continues...

The art of designing and creating textiles has been practiced by people for thousands of years. First emerging out of a necessity to fulfill basic needs, various cultures worldwide elevated it to another level by developing artistic, creative, and cloth methods that laid the foundation for textile art. The tradition of textile-making spans global cultures as one of the earliest human technologies, involving weaving, knitting, pressing, or knotting together individual pieces of natural or artificial fibers. Apart from providing shelter and warmth or holding goods, textiles also served decorative purposes and held an important place in the arts and crafts of various cultures around the world.

Inspired by ancient traditions but infused with a contemporary style, in 1997, Colombian textile artist Pilar Tobón founded WTA – Women in Textile Art. Over time, it transformed into World Textile Art to include male artists. In the year 2022, WTA celebrated its 25th anniversary with the X International Biennial “25 YEARS WTA,” held from October through December 2022. For the 10th Biennial, more than ten countries were interconnected to celebrate the rich history of WTA.

25 Years of Teextile History...

The first two WTA biennials, in 2000 and 2002, were held in Coral Gables-Florida after it took a nomadic character from the third Biennial in Venezuela. Henceforth, Costa Rica, Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, and Madrid followed as venues. In 2021, Chile organized the first WTA virtual biennial (in the context of the global pandemic of COVID-19). The WTA biennials have had the participation of artists from more than 45 countries, with an average of 500 applications per biennial and in-person attendance of more than 1 million visitors.

World Textile Art encompasses textile artists of diverse nationalities and cultures, who affectionately call it the “textile family.” WTA’s nomadic international biennial is the only textile art biennial in the world, with the realization of nine biennials in eight countries. Each country that hosts a WTA Biennial follows the guidelines of the Organization and is chaired by a Local Management Group of leading textile artists, curators, academics, administrators, and cultural managers.

The “25 Years WTA” Silver Jubilee grand celebration in Miami will include exhibitions, lectures, and workshops for adults and kids, to be held in different locations such as the Miami International Fine Arts-MIFA in Doral, the LOWE Art Museum in Coral Gables, Miami Children’s Museum, the Consulate of Colombia also in Coral Gables, Paquita Parodi Fashion Museum in Wynwood, and Mood Designers Fabrics also in Wynwood, from November 3 to December 15.

For the X Biennial, as part of the WTA grand celebration exhibit, WTA created a space for “25 ARTISTS” to be held in parallel in each of the countries that hosted a WTA Biennial − with its main headquarters in the city of Miami, Florida, under the direction of Luis Valenzuela, and sub-seats in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Caracas, Venezuela; Madrid, Spain; San José, Costa Rica; Montevideo, Uruguay; Manizales, Colombia; Xalapa, Mexico; and Santiago, Chile as this biennial’s Guest Country. Although Brazil, India, Italy, Korea, and Turkey had not previously hosted a WTA biennial, they joined the grand celebration, holding their national “25 ARTISTS” Salon in their home countries.

Each participating country’s “25 ARTISTS” Salon opened on site during October and November and was transmitted via streaming through different digital platforms.

The X Biennial of Contemporary Textile Art celebrates the 25 years of WTA in Miami, gathering the creations of more than 100 invited local and international artists.

Sponsors of the
X BIENNIAL

MIFA SPACE

  • 25 years (25×25) WTA, USA, Canada, and Latin America
  • WTA
  • Intertwining Continents​
  • Sike
  • Video “La Rueca”
  • Outdor

Colombia Consulate Miami

  • Pieces from WTA’s Private Collection​

Collateral Activities

Within the framework of the celebration of the X Biennial, workshops, conferences, and special gatherings for participating artists will be held.

Invited Artists USA, Canada, and Latin America Space

  • Alina Rodríguez-Roja (USA)
  • Aurora Molina (USA)
  • Carol Eckert (USA)
  • Carolyn Halliday (USA)
  • Carolyn Kallenborn (USA)
  • Cathy Gatley (USA)
  • Christine Mockett (Canada)
  • Connie Strayer (USA)
  • Cyndy Barbone (USA)
  • Dana Dal Bo (Canada)
  • Deborah Kruger (USA)
  • Evelyn Politzer (USA)
  • Ixchel Suarez (Canada)
  • Jairo Rueda (Colombia)
  • June J. Jacobs (Canada
  • Kristen Cain (USA)
  • Lanny Bergner (USA)
  • Laura Tabakman (USA)
  • Line Dufour (Canada)
  • Ixhel Suarez (Canada)
  • Marco Caridad (USA)
  • Marie Bergstedt (USA)
  • Mary Ruth Smith (USA)
  • Saaraliisa Ylitalo (USA)
  • Saberah Malik (USA)
  • Sang-Wook Lee (USA)
  • Stella Gaia Vendermey (USA)

Artist's WTA Space

  • Beatriz Oggero (Bolivia)
  • Biret Tavman (Turkey)
  • Carmenza Kafarela (Colombia)
  • Ceci Arango (Colombia)
  • Denis Blanchard (Chile)
  • Erika Ewel  (Bolivia)
  • Georgina Toussaint (Mexico)
  • Isabel Cisneros (Venezuela)
  • Isabel Polikowski Ditone (Argentina)
  • Malu Valerio (Venezuela)
  • Monica Urquijo (Colombia)
  • Moonhe Baik (Korea)
  • María Ortega (Spain)
  • María Teresa Pagola (Uruguay)
  • Martha Álvarez (Colombia)
  • Mónica Urquijo (Colombia)
  • Moonhe Baik (USA)
  • Myriam Jawerbaum (Argentina)
  • Paulina Ortiz (Costa Rica)
  • Pilar Rocha (USA)
  • Pilar Tobón (USA)
  • Marie Bergstedt (USA)
  • Mary Ruth Smith (USA)
  • Saaraliisa Ylitalo (USA)
  • Saberah Malik (USA)
  • Sang-Wook Lee (USA)
  • Stella Gaia Vendermey (USA)
  • Silke (Argentina)
  • Susana Molina (Chile)
  • Vaishali Oak (India)
  • Virginia D´Alto (Uruguay)
  • Yosi Anaya (Mexico)

Artist's VIDEOS Space

  • Silke (Argentina)
  • La Rueca (Argentina)

Artist's ART-TO-WEAR Space

  • Anastasiia Podervianska
  • (Ukraine)
  • Angel Sanchez (USA)
  • Atsuko Sasaki (Japan)
  • Baiba Osite (Latvia – Letonia)
  • Brigitte Amarger (France)
  • Chunghie Lee ( South
  • Korea)
  • Cristina Gámez (Spain)
  • Elena Martínez Bolio (Mexico)
  • Evelyn Bendjeskov (Argentina/Croatia)
  • Ieva Prana (Latvia – Letonia)
  • Karelle Levy (USA)
  • Luis Valenzuela (USA/Venezuela)
  • Malou Zryd (Switzerland)
  • Miko Hashimoto (Brazil)
  • Monique Lehman (USA/Poland)
  • Olga Saretsky Kikimora Studio (USA)
  • Paquita Parodi (USA)
  • Rei Giraldo (Colombia)
  • Slawomira Chorazyczewska (Polska)
  • Yoshiko Sashida (Japan)
  • Zoe Goldemberg (USA)

Artist's Interwining Continents Space

  • Alessandra Sequeira (Costa Rica)
  • Alvaro Campuzano (Colombia)
  • Anita Johson (Australia)
  • Anneke Klein (Netherlands)
  • Christina Frey (Germany)
  • Constantino Laura (Peru)
  • Eszter Bornemisza (Hungary)
  • Ewa Latowska-Zychsa (Poland)
  • Fiona Kirkwood (South Africa)
  • Hiroko Watanabe (Japan)
  • Irene Carlos (Guatemala)
  • Joanne Circle (Canada)
  • Kathryn Pannepacker (USA)
  • Kinor Jiang (China)
  • Laima Orzekausskiene (Lithuania)
  • Maïté Tanguy (France)
  • MiKyoung Lee (USA/Korea)
  • Pamela Hardstey (USA/Ireland)
  • Pamela Suasti (Ecuador)
  • Rosanna Rios Perez (Venezuela)
  • Sumiko Tasaka (Japan)
  • Tina Marais Struthers (Canada)
  • Wanda Cazaril (Italy)
  • Yen-Yu Tseng (Taiwan)

Artist's Outdoor Spaces

  • AMLgMATD Laz Ojalde & Natalie Zlamalova (USA)
  • Eva Sobán (Brazil)
  • Flora Sutton (Argentina)
  • Lisu Vega (USA)
  • Marco Caridad (USA)
  • Mirta Zak (Argentina)

Direction and Curators

  • Pilar Tobon, (WTA President)
  • Luis Valenzuela (X Biennial Director, Curator)
  • Yosi Anaya (Curator)
  • Maria Ortega (Curator)

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