WARF AND WEFT: WEAVING AND THE MUSEUM´S PERMANENT EXHIBITION

programme:

1:30 pm – introduction and guided tour of artist tapestries with the curator Markéta Vinglerová

c. 2 pm – 5 pm weaving workshop led by the textile artist Eva Vobrová

included in the price:

• half-hour guided tour of the permanent exhibition with one of the museum’s curators
• three-hour workshop on weaving on frames, led by an expert
• frame + material (woollen yarn), which participants can take home afterwards
• tea, coffee, water

summary:

What is the fundamental principle behind weaving? Which way does the warp run, and what is the weft? Do weavers follow an exact pattern, their own fantasy, or what is suggested by the material? Is there a Czech tradition in artist tapestry, and can a woven image be considered art? These and other questions will be addressed at the workshop Warp and Weft: Weaving and the Museum’s Permanent Exhibitions, which will be held at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague on Saturday 21 March, starting at 1:30 pm. A short introduction to the museum’s permanent exhibition by the curator of the textile collection, Markéta Vinglerová, will be followed by a workshop led by the textile artist Eva Vobrová.

We will explain the main principles of various weaves, and how different types of yarn work in these weaves. Eva Vobrová has prepared a special series of hand-spun and mostly naturally dyed yarns especially for the workshop, where they will be combined with high-quality machine-made woollen yarns. The workshop is multi-generational and aimed at the general public (including children aged six or over), but capacity is limited. Weaving will be on a simple frame loom that you can take with you to enjoy weaving at your own pace (and maybe finish your tapestry at home), but also so you can continue with your own weaving projects. The United Nations has declared 2026 the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, and the workshop pays tribute to sheep’s wool, a material that has been much used in the Czech tapestry tradition.

Eva Vobrová

A textile artist and a dedicated advocate of sheep’s wool and all the ways it is used in arts and crafts. She works with a range of textile techniques, especially spinning and weaving. She enjoys the possibilities that textile disciplines offer for constant learning and creative theoretical and practical work, and she welcomes the opportunity to pass on her knowledge and experience at the workshops she hosts in her studio in Central Bohemia. In February 2026 she organised the first annual Ostrava Wool Fest, devoted to sheep’s wool and all the stages in its production.

The workshop is being held as part of the FABRIC project and is supported by the Erasmus grant programme, with co-funding from the European Union.