12th
Southern Hemisphere Feltmakers’ Convergence 1st – 6th September 2013
You are warmly invited to join us for the 12th Southern Hemisphere
Feltmakers’ Convergence. Convergence is a biennial gathering of feltmakers and follows a long tradition
of sharing knowledge, experience and ideas about felt. It is run
entirely voluntarily for the benefit of feltmakers and feltmaking as a craft.
It covers every aspect of feltmaking and is suitable for all levels of
experience. Come along, learn, share, felt and have fun with other feltmakers.
VENUE The Tops Conference
Centre
51
Bendena Garden Rd, Stanwell Tops, NSW 2508
The
Tops Conference Centre is located 1 hour’s drive south of Sydney. Offering a
peaceful environment and magnificent views, The Tops is situated on 200 acres
of pristine bushland overlooking Illawarra's northern coastline.
ACCOMMODATION
All attendance at
Convergence 2013 will be residential.
There is no option for
non-residential attendance.
Accommodation is modern with spacious rooms in a
peaceful location. Each room is fully ensuited, offers heating and sleeps up to
6 people
with a common kitchenette.
Pillows,
pillowslips, towels, sheets and doona are provided with the rooms.
All meals from the evening of Sunday 1st September to the lunch of Friday 6th September are
included. Special diets will be catered for on request.
This is a non-smoking venue and smoking is not permitted anywhere on the
premises. This is also an alcohol free venue, by policy of the Tops conference
centre.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
The
Convergence program is still being nutted out, but it will include felt
demonstrations, lectures by industry experts, hands on activities, a felt
fashion parade, a designated felting room to felt whenever you have the urge,
as well as opportunities to relax. You might want to take a walk in the nearby
Royal National park. The first ever Felt Games will take place at convergence -
who will take home the felt cup? There
will also be an outing to Wollongong University for the opening of the felt
exhibition.
GUEST FELTMAKERS
Three guest feltmakers , Japanese feltmaker,
Leiko Uchiyama, Martien van Zuilen from Perth and Anna Gunnarsdóttir from Iceland will be
attending the convergence and sharing with each of you their techniques,
knowledge and love of their craft. You can see some of their work at,
http://www.martienvanzuilen.com
http://leikofelt.com
http://www.annagunnars.is
TRADERS’ HALL
There will be a
Traders’ Hall offering a range of textile and feltmaking supplies. It will be
open daily, so bring some pocket money for that fibre that you simply can’t go
home without.
FELTMAKERS SESSIONS/TUTORIALS
The program includes a range of tutors covering different methods of
felting work, design, and history. Some
tutors and demonstrations have already been organised, but, in the tradition of
convergence we invite YOU to share your knowledge and expertise in a 1.5 hour
time slot. Please e-mail 12thfeltconvergencesh@westnet.com.au
for a tutor’s expression of interest form.
Don’t
be shy – your generosity with your knowledge and your particular way of making
felt furthers the development of feltmaking. The topic is entirely up to you.
It is envisaged that there will be 6 different lectures/demonstrations running
concurrently each day for attendees to choose from. Please indicate on this
enrolment form if you are interested in being a
tutor.
FASHION PARADE
Bring your
beautiful garments and wearable art for this fashion event. This is a chance to see your own felt work on display. You will be asked to model your garments (or
find a friend at convergence who will do this for you) with the maximum being 3
items per person.
We encourage you to bring your creations to Convergence and be part of
this colourful night of fashion.
Please indicate on this enrolment form if you are
interested in being part of this event.
DISPLAY OF FELTWORK
We will be having
a display of participants’ work so bring a piece(s) of your felt to have on
display for everyone to see. Please label piece(s) with your name, price (if
for sale) and your phone number. These will be handed in upon registration and
displayed at the venue site.
FUNDS FOR THE NEXT
CONVERGENCE
It is a tradition that each convergence raises some funds for the next
convergence to get a financial start. Thank you to The Bunbury Feltmakers who
gave us our seed funds with the sale of felt banners at the 11th Convergence in
Bunbury W.A 2011.
For this convergence, all attendees are asked to make one 3-dimensional
felted item of your own choice with a maximum size of 20 x 20 x 20cm. These
items will be displayed as centre decorations for the dining tables during the
week. Each attendee will be asked to purchase a $15 ticket number that will
correspond to a particular felted object that will be yours to keep at the
close of convergence. In this way we will be able to ensure that the tradition of
convergence will continue in 2 years’ time. Where will the next one be?
FEES
This is an all - inclusive
residential program with the fees covering accommodation, all meals, tutorials,
workshops, entertainment, excursions and the fashion parade. All fees are quoted in Australian Dollars and payments can
only be accepted in this currency.
The cost is $650 AUD per person.
To secure your place a deposit of $300.00 is
due by 28th February 2013.
The balance of $350 is payable by 30 April 2013
More Information?
If you would you like an enrolment form please send us an email.
Further
details will be provided in a following newsletter that will be sent out in
2013 after finalizing numbers for this event. This will include more detailed
information on the program outline, what to bring with you etc.
If
you have any ideas you would like to offer to the committee about Convergence
please address these to 12thfeltconvergencesh@westnet.com.au
