Enjoy a special viewing of the LIBERTY Art Fabrics & Fashion exhibition in the company of textile historian, and one-time Dovecot master weaver, Jonathan Cleaver.
Discover the distinctive characteristics of fashionable flooring at the turn of the 20th century, and how carpets became a starting point for interior design. In the late 19th century, Liberty’s department store promoted loose carpets and rugs as a key feature of ‘Artistic’ interiors. The popularity of Persian, Turkish, Indian and other Oriental rugs inspired European manufacturers to invest in design, and by the 1890s the British carpet industry was promoting the Art Nouveau style. Join Jonathan Cleaver in conversation with Fiona Jardine, as they discuss his research on the history of James Templeton & Co Ltd and Stoddard International plc, two of Scotland’s most significant and influential carpet businesses, and how they responded to artistic and commercial taste.
Jonathan Cleaver is researching the design of machine-made carpets & technical innovation in the Stoddard Templeton archives at the University of Glasgow. Cleaver joined Dovecot Tapestry Studio in 2008 and gained Master Weaver status in 2015. The Stoddard-Templeton Collection encompasses the design library, design archive and heritage carpet collection of two of Scotland’s most significant and influential carpet designers and manufacturers. It is managed by the University of Glasgow, the Glasgow School of Art and Glasgow Life.
Dr. Fiona Jardine is a writer and artist with a position in the School of Design as Lecturer in Design History & Theory at Glasgow School of Art. Graduating with an MFA from Glasgow School of Art in 2003, she has held both Contextual and Studio teaching positions in Textile Design and Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (2006-2009), and in Critical and Contextual Studies in the School of Textiles & Design, Heriot-Watt University (2013 – 2017). She has also worked as a Visiting Lecturer in Intermedia at Edinburgh College of Art (2013). Fiona works collaboratively with curators, designers and community groups on research-led projects involving specific histories, collections and archives.
Admission to the talk is free with your Liberty Late ticket. Seating is unreserved, please arrive early to secure a space.
6pm – Access to Liberty Art Fabrics & Fashion exhibition
6.15pm – Talk in South Gallery
7.30pm – Exhibition closes
Every ticket sold supports the work of The Dovecot Foundation to advance visual art, craft and design in all its forms.
