Te Puke Creative Fibre group contributes to regional exhibition

The work of members of Te Puke Creative Fibre will feature in the weekend's Bay of Plenty Area Creative Fibre Exhibition.

Members of Te Puke Creative Fibre have had 100% success in this year’s Bay of Plenty Area Creative Fibre Exhibition.

All four items submitted by members have been selected for exhibition.

Kushla Haenen, president of the Te Puke group, is proud of their small group’s contribution to the exhibition entries.

“The quality of work produced by members of our group is outstanding,” she says.

“They’re true artists with skills and knowledge beyond the average. Their work deserves to be seen by the wider public.”

A total of 60 exhibition entries from across the wider Bay of Plenty will compete for awards including the Wairoa Trophy for the most outstanding article in the exhibition, and the Esme McNaughton Award for overall Excellence in Finishing.

The new Pahoia Award for Outstanding Knitting will be awarded for the first time this year.

Many of the items will be for sale, so visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to enhance their wardrobes or their homes with a variety of top quality hand-made fibre items.

This year’s theme is Fibre Takes Flight, linking to the venue, Classic Flyers Museum, Mount Maunganui.

Categories include Light as Air, Classic Legacy, and Free as a Bird.

Members have been exceptionally creative in their interpretations of these titles, applying their spinning, weaving, knitting, felting and crochet skills to fibres of all types, from wool, alpaca, or silk through cotton, flax, or hemp, says Kushla.

Support for the exhibition has come from the Tauranga City Council Creative Communities fund, which recognises the growing interest in creative fibre arts.

The Te Puke Creative Fibre group meets at 10am on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at the Revival Church on Seddon St.

The exhibition will be open to the public from August 23 to 25.

For further information check the Bay of Plenty Creative Fibre Group page on Facebook.