Quilt Symposium Exhibition Convenor Maria Rohs on The New Zealand Quilt Show

I contacted Maria Rohs, the exhibition convenor of the NZ National Quilt Symposium happening in Christchurch in October 2017, and she was happy to come on the show and give us a rundown of how the exhibition is shaping up and the work that she and her committee and been doing up until now.  

Maria and her team have been working incredibly hard getting the venues organised, the judges sorted, and the categories prepared.  But it didn't stop there!  The entries flowed in, then the jurying had to happen.  Once quilts were accepted they began to arrive and needed sorting.  Professional photography needed to be done and soon the official judging will happen.  Then, in next to no time, the exhibition will need to be hung, prizes awarded and then after a flurry of viewing days and it will all be over!

Maria and I discuss how the online entry system worked, who the judges are, how the jurying and judging processes will work and how she will feel once the exhibition is finally up.  We talk about the venues and all the complementary exhibitions that will happen at the same time.

The themes of this year's symposium exhibition are:

Creative Construction – A Story in TextilesColin McCahon said that art has to be about something. Tell a story. 

Cultural Connection – Celebrating Our New Zealand Cultural DiversityMake a quilt that expresses an aspect of New Zealand’s cultural diversity and / or identity. Consider what it means to be a New Zealander.

RecycledEven by 2017 many Christchurch residents will be sick of waiting to have their homes and city rebuilt and repaired.  Make a quilt entirely of recycled materials (excluding batting and thread) depicting a building. 

OpenAny quilt made since 1 February 2015.

World War 1 – Postcards from the FrontDuring WW1 silk embroidered postcards were created by French and Belgian women to sell as souvenirs to soldiers fighting in Europe. It is estimated 10 million were made and posted home.

The Best in Show is sponsored by Bernina, and there is a wonderful list of other prizes sponsored by amazing businesses and groups.  See here for the full list of prizes and and sponsors.

Maria was generous with her information and time and I learnt a whole heap about what has been happening behind the scenes to put together a national exhibition.  Thanks Maria!


PS - If you know of any exhibitions or shows or anything interesting coming up in the quilting or textile art world, please let me know so I can share the news on the show.



Download this episode (right click and save)

Thank you to everyone who supports this podcast and helps me tell the stories of our quiltmakers, artists and professionals.  If you would like to support me, head over to iTunes and leave a five star review, pop over to my podbean hosting site and leave a donation, or consider advertising your business by sponsoring an episode.  Email me at theslightlymadquiltlady@gmail.com  Cheers!