In July, the Philippines will be hosting France’s biggest and most prestigious international festival dedicated to textiles, bridging indigenous and contemporary designs through the creativity, innovation, and expertise of local and international artists.
Since its launch in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand in 2012 through the initiative of the HS_Projets Association and the Bargoin Museum in France, the festival has gathered fashion designers, weavers, artists, collectors, and the general public for a series of activities focused on textiles.
The Philippines will be the second country outside Europe to welcome the festival after being held in Vietnam in 2013.
The FITE in Manila will take place from July 7 to 12, 2015 in partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Manila and HABI: The Philippine Textile Council, together with HS_Projets, the Bargoin Museum and the city of Clermont-Ferrand. 7 foreign artists and designers will be flying in to participate in a series of workshops, artist talks, and fashion shows.
The artists include Armel Barraud, a French expert in the metal lace technique, Carmen Rion, a Mexican designer well known for her work with indigenous women, Japan’s contemporary bamboo sculptor Ueno Masao, and Dr. Kinor Jiang, who specializes in metallized textiles in collaboration with fellow Hong Kong-based designers Shu Sun, Tsang Fan Yu, and Guoxian Yuan.
One of the Philippines’ most recognized fashion designers, Patis Tesoro, will also be participating in the FITE in Manila, together with paper cutting artist Ryan Villamael.
The textile exhibit Renaissance, which was first mounted in France in 2014, will also be brought to Manila as a part of the festival. The Renaissance exhibit opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila’s Tall Galleries on July 8, 2015 and will run until September 12, 2015.
The International Festival of Extraordinary Textiles (FITE) in Manila is organized by the Embassy of France to the Philippines, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, and HABI: The Philippine Textile Council, in partnership with the HS_Projets Association, the Bargoin Musuem and the city of Clermont-Ferrand, with the support of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, SM Aura Premier, Security Bank, BusinessWorld, High Life, HerWord.com and Art Plus Magazine.
For more information on the FITE, contact George Natier, Cultural Attaché at the Embassy of France, at culturel.ambafrance.manille@gmail.com or visit www.ambafrance-ph.org. For the Renaissance exhibition, contact the Metropolitan Museum of Manila at info@metmuseum.ph or log on to www.metmuseum.ph.
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