Regular Repeating Programs
Friends of Fiber Art International programs are designed to inform and inspire potential collectors by including privileged visits to art collectors’ homes. These are usually concurrent with important contemporary fiber art shows and events, such as:
EXPOSITIONS that serve collectors like SOFA Chicago held annually. Annually artist-Friends speak at two SOFA programs on Friday morning. This is followed by a netweorking lunch. A special event is often scheduled at a Chicago gallery or museum on Saturday morning. Our annual Sunday bus tour takes members to a private collection, important fiber or craft shows in town, a possible architecture visit, group lunch and airport drop off.
EXHIBITIONS such as Quilt National (next 2011) and the International Triennial of Tapestry (next 2010) in Poland which surveys the state of fiber art around the world.
CONFERENCES presented by artist organizations like ATA, HGA, NBO, SAQA, SDA, SPIN and one which serves curators and scholars, the Textile Society of America (TSA).
Triennial in Poland 2010
Our fifth Friends of Fiber Art tour of Poland focuses on the most important world-wide survey of contemporary fiber art, the 13th International Triennial of Tapestry. Join us for an extraordinary art and culture experience.
USA DEPARTURE / ARRIVAL IN POLAND MAY 5 / 6
Book your most convenient local service to fly May 5 (or earlier) to Gdansk. Various US airlines make a connection from major European cities. For example: United and Lufthansa fly Frankfurt to Gdansk and American and Lot fly Warsaw to Gdansk. Your overnight flights will arrive in Gdansk the next day. Take an airport bus directly to our hotel. Detailed airport bus schedule will be sent to registered passengers. Take time to recover from jet lag before the first group event, a welcome dinner May 6.
TOUR SCHEDULE, MAY 6 TO 19
Each day in Poland you will be invited to join Friends for group tours that take about five hours. There will be many exhibitions and meetings with artists along the way. In addition a bountiful Polish meal will be offered that will take another couple of hours. In the past we have been criticized for offering too much food (in Poland food is an expression of love). On this tour you get breakfast and one large meal most days. In each city your hotel is near interesting sites, restaurants and shopping that you may wish to take advantage of in your free hours.
GDANSK
Stay three nights at the Mercure Hevelius which reopened in June 2009 after a complete renovation. Discover the architecture, culture and important history of this vital seaport.
Take our walking tour down Old Town streets past a thousand years of architectural history with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings and stop at the Amber Museum. Visit the Roads to Freedom exhibition describing the history-changing events that took place in the Gdansk Shipyards and brought the end of Communist rule. We are hoping for confirmation of a meeting with Nobel Laureate, Lech Walesa, the leader who initiated that change. We definitely have confirmation of a meeting at the studio of Maria Teresa Kuczynska, porcelain and bronze sculptress with an international reputation that compares to that of Abakanowicz. We’ll see the beach in Sopot.
LODZ
Pack up for a deluxe coach transfer (with lunch stop en route) to Lodz where you’ll stay four nights at the Andel’s Hotel in the new cultural-commercial complex called Manufaktura. It was re-built from a cluster of factory buildings and deluxe residences constructed in the days when the town was one of the biggest textile producing centers of Europe.
The town’s name begins with the crossed L that is pronounced as a W. Say Woodge when referring to Lodz. As the result of it’s prosperous history, Lodz has numerous luxurious mansions and exquisite Art Nouveau buildings. Several have been restored and converted to art galleries. It is also the home of the first modern art museum in Poland, the location of one of Europe’s most-important film schools and the birthplace of Artur Rubinstein. You may independently visit a replica of Rubinstein’s apartment.
Group arrangements focus on fiber! You will be taken to the opening of a different fiber exhibition every few hours and see a wearable-art fashion show. You will have an authentic Polish feast in the home of premiere fiber artist, Jolanta Rudzka-Habisiak, medal winner in previous Triennials. See about 150 large-scale works by artists from 50 nations in what may be the largest textile museum in the world. It was a huge textile factory. On view will be the work of five American exhibitors: Regina Benson, Lanny Bergner, Tim Harding, Nancy Koenigsberg and Mary Zicafoose. At the Triennial opening you will learn whose work was awarded medals by an international jury. The show is invitational.
KRAKOW
We drive to Poland’s most-elegant town, Krakow, which earned World Heritage designation for its historical beauty. For three nights revel in the amenities of the Stary Hotel updated to contemporary luxury standards. It is on one corner of the largest square (Rynek Glowny) in Europe. Enjoy the charms of this delightful city which is home to two million works of art and 6000 historic buildings and monuments.
Your high fiber diet continues with the Third International Festival of Artistic Textiles in nine different Krakow locations. It features solo, national and juried shows. Meet more artists. Friends’ musical interlude at this stop is a Klezmer performance at Alef restaurant in Kazimierz (the old Jewish Quarter). See the outstanding tapestry collection and intricate Ottoman tents in the Wawel Castle; enjoy one of daVinci’s masterpieces (Lady with an Ermine) at the Czartoryski Museum; at noon watch the opening of the magnificent, complex carved-wood altarpiece by Wit Stwosz in the Mariacki Church; hear a bugler re-create an historic trumpet call in the main square.
In Krakow only, one full free day is open to pursue your personal interests. Options include: the Polish national religious shrine of Czestochowa, or, the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz, or, the unusual nine levels of salt mines with rooms carved into chapels, sculpture galleries, a sanatarium and underground lakes. Our hotel concierge will arrange guide and transportation to the above. Or, stay in town and enjoy the hotel’s pool and fitness center, or, just people watch at a cafe on the square.
WARSAW
We travel North to Warsaw ending our tour with three nights at one of the finest hotels in Europe, Le Royal Meridian Bristol. It is walking distance to the important architecture in the old town (Stare Miasto) and convenient for last minute shopping. We have opted for shorter tour arrangements in the capital.
Warsaw is a living symbol of national pride. The Nazis flattened it during WWII. With grave determination the Poles meticulously rebuilt it, reproducing the original Gothic to 18th century buildings. We will see exhibits in contemporary museums; visit fiber art shows mounted to complement the Triennial; and take an excursion to the Wilanov Royal Castle and gardens. We learned that the American Ambassador will invite us to a special reception in his official residence. If our request is honored (it was in past years) Magdalena Abakanowicz will welcome us to her home-studio.
Our gala farewell evening includes a Chopin recital, a stroll among the peacocks near Lazienki Palace and a sophisticated dinner at Belvedere.
DEPART MAY 19
After breakfast at the Bristol, take private transportation (arranged by the hotel concierge) to Warsaw’s international airport for the morning or afternoon flight you have booked back to your home.
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
INCLUDED in this 2010 fiber art tour package is land transportation by comfortable first-class vehicles, 13 nights in fine four- and five-star hotels, porterage between cities of two pieces of luggage per person, food as described below, admission fees to museums etc. and local guide fees. Book your own international transportation.
FOOD: Included meals – a generous buffet breakfast each day and one large meal on 11 days. Many will include local wine, beer or a soft drink. Meals will be in a private home or studio or high-quality restaurants that offer either regional fare or international cuisine that defies ethnic stereotype. Most will offer more than one choice for the main course. The local economy profits from the export of superior hams. Domestically, the Poles prepare the rest of the beast in many tempting ways including sausages and cutlets. We are limited in meeting special dietary requirements; however, you may request pork-free or vegetarian meals. We’ll do our best to comply.
COST: The dollar has been circling the drain, but, we have determined the following price based on the exchange rate of February 14 and participation of no fewer than 12 paid registrants. It is only 12 percent higher than our 2007 Triennial tour fee and the Lodz hotel is much better than the last one used.
per person double occupancy $5150
single supplement $ 800
All features described above are included. At this time, registration for part of the tour is not available. It may be later. There is no discount for features not used. Every passenger is requested to be a member at the Patron-Friend ($250) level. Friends of Fiber Art International is a federally-recognized 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organization. Upper-level dues are tax deductible.
To register, please phone or fax Friends of Fiber Art International’s office USA 708-246-9466, or, send an e-mail to Camille J. Cook topcollector@sbcglobal.net
October in Nebraska
OCTOBER 8 TO 10 -- Friends will offer a program to see the new International Quilt Study Center and Museum, Sheldon Art Museum and up to 20 textile shows inaugurated to complement the Textile Society of America conference in Lincoln and Omaha Nebraska. The special privilege to Friends on this tour is viewing the spectacular private contemporary art collection (which includes baskets) of Karen and Robert Duncan. They are featured collectors in Friends' Material Difference: Soft Sculpture and Wall Works exhibition catalog.
