Location: Sheaff Family Gallery and Whakatāne Community Board Gallery, Te Koputu a Te Whanga a Toi

The Endless Thread showcases award-winning fibre crafts from around our region. This year, it was the Whakatāne Fibre Crafters’ turn to host the Bay of Plenty-wide biennial competition. Nynke Piebenga had the challenging task of judging more than 150 entries and choosing winners across seven categories. 

Creative Fibre, the New Zealand Spinning, Weaving and Woolcrafts Society Inc. was founded in 1969. The organisation unites people with a passion for fibre crafts and textile arts. Spinners, weavers, knitters, dyers, flax workers, felters, crocheters and other makers – from home-crafter to professional artist are all welcome to join and experience the joy of working with fibre.

Their mission is to explore, create and inspire with fibre. To achieve this Creative Fibre share, promote, teach and preserve the cultural activities of spinning, weaving and all other crafts that use wool and/or other fibres and encourage the pursuit of excellence.

Creative Fibre have more than 3000 members throughout New Zealand and around the world. In the Bay of Plenty there are eight established clubs with more than 250 members. The number of members in each group varies a lot but all members share and learn from each other and many lifelong friendships are formed. Although autonomous, all areas provide interest and activities such as workshops, retreats, spin-ins and exhibitions. 

Local members of Creative Fibre will be in situ on weekends during this exhibition, doing fibre craft demonstrations and offering hands-on making opportunities.

This exhibition is supported by Whakatāne District Creative Communities.