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This year’s symposium will begin with a conversation between those living and working to produce our global demand for textiles and those that receive the mounds of material that is discarded once clothing is deemed “uninteresting” or damaged.  We’ll hear from members of the OR Foundation Community and the Garment Worker Center, who will share the consequences that they personally and professionally experience due to current rates of production within the fashion industry. 

The day will include a presentation by Local Futures, an organization founded on the work to uplift place-based regional economies; including efforts to ‘expose the big picture’ and ‘unite and connect’ farmers, mainstreet business owners, indigenous communities and everyone in between.  We will hear from artist and textile reuse maker Karen Hampton who’s art and life is shaped by connection to her ancestry– a lineage versed in care and regard for soil, textiles and dyes.  

The second half of our day will focus on our region’s water and agriculture.  With rapid changes in weather patterns, our soil based systems from which we rely upon for material culture are undergoing transitions.  We will hear from hydrologists, farmers, those leading people powered solutions, and researchers in two panel discussions focused on realities and solutions of California water and the growing agroforestry movement.  We will hear lightning talks from Fibershed Producer members focused on stories of how they are implementing carbon farming practices and enhancing biodiversity and soil carbon within their working landscapes.

The Fibershed Marketplace Showcase will feature a range of the region’s soil-to-soil textiles and will highlight our region’s farmers, artisans, weavers, felters, knitters, mills and natural dyers who will be offering freshly farmed and ranched goods from our range and cropland systems.

Schedule:

9-9:15am: Opening Remarks

9:15-10:15am: Conversation between a member of Kantamanto Market and the Garment Worker Center

10:15-11:15am: Presentation by Anja Lynbaeck from Local Futures

11:15-11:20am: Short Break

11:20-11:45am: Presentation with Karen Hampton & Conversation Between Karen Hampton and Teju Adisa-Farrar

11:45-1:15pm: Agroforestry Panel with Sonja Brodt, Liz Carlisle, Guido Frosini, Jesse Smith facilitated by Mike Conover

1:15-1:45pm: Fibershed Marketplace Showcase

1:45-1:50pm: Short Break

1:50-2:30pm: Lightning Talks with Marcia Barinaga, John Bailey, Kelli Dunaj, Sarah Keiser

2:30-4pm: Water Systems Panel with Andy Fisher, Regina Hirsch, Dennis Hutson, Brad Lancaster

Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/183037559267

For speaker bios, visit our 2021 Symposium page: fibershed.org/2021-wool-fine-fiber-symposium

Weaving Voices illustration by Laurie Sawyer