TextilFest
The Asociación para la Creación Textil (Association for Textile Creation), ACT, is a non-profit entity founded in 2021, heir to the former Association of Textile Creators of Madrid, founded in 1988. It currently has about a hundred members in Spain, Portugal and Iberoamerican countries. ACT works in the field of textile culture (heritage, education, creation) to encourage public conversation about textiles by the organization of exhibitions, online and presencial meetings, workshops, etc. Its current president is Madrid-based Lala de Dios, former president of the European Textile Network ETN.
In order to celebrate textiles, the ACT is launching the first edition of TextilFest, Festival of Contemporary Textile Creation running from September 18, 2025 to January 26, 2026.The objective is to promote excellence in textile creativity and skills and to be a meeting point for the exchange of knowledge and experiences with like-minded colleagues.
Igualada, a city located 60 km from Barcelona, historically a cluster of knitting factories and leather tanning will host TextilFest at the Cal Boyer Leather Museum. The program includes exhibitions, a fashion show, workshops, talks and residences besides visits to textile museums, ateliers and interesting places in Igualada and Barcelona.
The open call for Transformations, an international juried exhibition (September 18 – October 25) will be open until April 1, 2025. Please, use this link and scroll down to find the English version where you can download the open call and find the link to online registration.
https://creaciontextil.org/evento/convocatoria-abierta-exposicion-internacional-transformations/
Registration for Jun Tomita’s workshop Weft Kasuri Weaving is also open. Tomita is a Japanese artist, weaver and dyer, specialising in kasuri weaving, the Japanese name for ikat, the technique of thread – reserve dyeing before weaving. He studied in Australia and England, wrote a reference manual on kasuri and returned to Japan in the 1980s, settling in an old farm near Kyoto where he helped to create The Village, a community of artisans who run a shop-gallery and host artists in residence. Tomita has exhibited worldwide and his works show a refined and minimalist aesthetic that resonates with the Modern movement. https://juntomita.com/ – @juntomita_weaving. Workshop dates: October 1, 2 and 3, 2025. Price: 355€. Deadline for registration and paying 50% of the fee: April 15.
Here is the complete workshop program:
September 22 – 24: Volume in Felt (Marjolein Dallinga) and Text and Textile (Jette Clover).
October 1 – 3: Weft Kasuri Weaving (Jun Tomita, registration opened).
October 4 – 5: Weaving with the TC2 (Francesca Piñol).
October 20 – 21: Cultivation of Nettle Fibre (Ellen Bangsbo).
October 22- 24: Free Warp Tapestry – Exploring the Fibre Art Techniques of Tadek Beutlich (Tim Johnston)
January 2026: Ply-Splitting (Helen Leaf) and Mushroom Dyeing (Nilia Bañares and Palma Christian). Dates to be confirmed.
If you have questions about the Transformations call for entries, the workshops, or would like to receive TextilFest program updates, or require travel and lodging information, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Any enquiry should be directed to textilfest@creaciontextil.org.
We look forward to welcoming you in Igualada next autumn!
Text provided by Lala de Dios
