The Appalachian Chair Caning Tour, 2020 reboot!
Join us for A Brief History of Chair Caning Presentation at the William King Museum, Jan 18, 2020 from 2-4pm in Abingdon, VA
Happy New Year! Our 2020 Calendar of Events is jam packed with nerdy fun.
We are rebooting The Appalachian Chair Caning Tour starting with a presentation at the William King Museum in Abingdon, VA. January 18, 2020 from 2pm-4pm
Explore world history through the lens of the woven seat. This talk complements a furniture exhibit going on through January 26, 2020 and is FREE to attend. Registration is encouraged. For more information or to register, call the William King Museum at (276) 628-5005 ext. 109.
Shameless Chair Nerd and Ambassador of the Craft of Chair Caning
In Conversation: Inspired Furniture Then and Now explores the legacy of furniture making in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee.
This exhibition at the William King Museum features work by contemporary furniture makers in tandem with historical pieces from the region. Placing these pieces together opens the door for conversations about traditional process and stylistic form present in furniture made along the Great Road and how those techniques persist and are altered today. It runs through January 26, 2020.
A Brief History of Chair Caning:
From Middle Kingdom Egypt to Mid-Century Scandinavia, chair makers have employed woven materials on their chairs. These woven seats (the most important part of the chair?) get a mere mention in museums and books, with little explanation of materials, history, process and contemporary applications…until now. Following the presentation is a demonstration of traditional hand-woven chair caning. Guests are encouraged to share their chair’s story, or bring it along for advice or show and tell. WARNING: you might become a chair nerd!
Call to book a lecture/demo at your school or museum, 828-707-4553 or email SilverRiverChairs@gmail.com.
Later this summer we will be teaching at the Appalachian Center for Craft and a Legacy Class at Arrowmont in Tennessee. We then hit the road to attend The SeatWeavers’ Guild Annual Gathering where we will be on the hunt for chair caners from Georgia to Maine. Stay tuned for the rest of the tour! Revisit the 2014 Appalachian Chair Caning Tour which was instrumental in the creation of Silver River Center for Chair Caning in 2015.
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