OIDFA 2010

Report on visiting
14th OIDFA WORLD LACE CONGRESS
9-11 July 2010, a fabulous lace festival in Kobe, Japan.
Location: Kobe Fashionmuseum

At the entrance of the Kobe Fashion Museum visitors were treated on an exhibition of superb antique laces. These treasure were lend by Lecien Lace Museum and from Mrs. Ichikawa Keiko’s private collection.

14th Oidfa Catalogue       Entrance

The Oidfa congress was a wonderful experience where people from all over the world could gather around the same interest : “LACE.”

International concours

Each country did their utmost best to make an original design for the concours.

Belgium                                                     Japan

Demonstrations

Demonstrations of different handicrafts attracted intense interest.

Kumihimo

Lace demonstration                                         Russia Vologda lace

Friends meeting at Oidfa Kobe

Oidfa Kobe was the perfect place to meet friends.

Lace friends for 30 years                             Friends and the next generation

Happy encounter with longtime, sincere friends

Fagotting lace by Itoh sensei               Diane receives a fagotting lace present

24 years later, a friend meets us at Oidfa

Teachers

Wako Ono lace                                         Miho Kagari - Kasumigaoka

Romanian Lace by Yuko Higuchi         Romanian Lace by Akiko Matsushita

Crochet by Sachiko Yamamoto

Dealers

Dealers were doing their best to satisfy the visitors’ desires.

Dealers                                                       Nihon Vogue

Goda-san                                                Angel Collection Nagoya

Oya lace MiHRI                                         Oya lace

The best way to wash lace, embroidery, quilts etc.

Washing laces and fine textiles is a problem for many people. It is a struggle to find the best solution to take care of your treasures. The advice was given to use SOAK. A gentle, natural soap for lace, embroidery, quilts etc...
See also: website

Mori Katsumi san 's lecture

Mori Katsumi-san

Tapestry in Den Hague                              

Lecture by Katsumi Mori, the director of the Textile Museum of the Kawashima Selkon textile company.

"The quest for the textile art."
- The True, the Good and the Beautiful –

Mr. Mori told an almost unbelievable story about how the Kawashima Selkon company strives for perfection of their textile products.

The true: allow no compromise concerning the materials or the process. Work with the conscience of craftsmanship.
The good: build a relationship of trust with clients.
The beautiful: in pursuit of the Japanese traditional beauty in textile dyeing, make as much effort as possible.

To translate this into actions, Jimbei Kawashima, the founder of Kawashima textile company promised to deliver the most beautiful textiles. He kept his promise by making perfect art.
How come Kawashima textile was so sublime? Because Jimbei Kawashima’s words and deeds were in accordance with his heart.

Before the congress started I wrote the following:

The Oidfa congress in Kobe will be a chance to use lace as a thread that connects international friendships.

After the congress, I can translate our feelings in the following kanji.

Oidfa, brilliant as a flower

Origami

Oidfa World Congress in Kobe was bright and radiant as a flower.

The tradition of lace is still blooming. Oidfa is a great support for a long history of craftsmanship.

As Katsumi Mori stated in his lecture: “The tradition is there to preserve out of respect for the past. Our task is to improve the tradition for the future generations.“

Diane Claeys expresses herewith the hope that lace and other crafts will be recognized as a world heritage.

LACE: Threads which connect the past with the future
レース: 未来と過去を繋ぐ糸

(Please click on the pictures to see a larger version.)