This workshop explores the connections between Jewish inquiry and material sampling in craft and creative practices.

In textile and craft practices, sampling and testing are processes of learning techniques and demonstrating results. Havruta is a traditional Jewish study practice of paired or group reading, discussion, questioning, and meaning making. This winter, artist Etta Sandry hosted small-group sampling havrutas at the Museum of Jewish Montreal that invited artists and craft practitioners to gather, share their material samples, and discuss their practices of inquiry and making. Building on the themes that emerged in these meetings, this creative event opens the sampling havruta to a larger public and invites participants to contribute to the creation of a collective workbook zine.

Focused on instruction and interpretation as a commonality between Jewish inquiry and craft practice, in this 2.5 hour workshop Etta will present some of the key findings and questions from her recent research and prompt participants to creatively interpret an instruction through a paper weaving activity. Through practices of inquiry and discourse, participants will reflect on their personal creative practices and share with others. They will then be invited to contribute an instruction or template to be included in a collective zine - these could include a knitting pattern, a recipe, a score, a weave draft, a sewing pattern, a question, or something else! Contributions will be compiled into an instruction book that will be distributed after the event.

This event is free and all materials will be provided. Participants are invited to bring something to write with/in, any paper materials they may want to weave with, and an instruction in any form. Snacks and beverages will be available.

This event is a part of the Museum of Jewish Montreal’s Microgrant Program for Creative or Cultural Exploration, which is funded by the Quebec Community Group Network's Community Innovation Fund. We also thank the Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal (JCF) for their support.

Please note that the upper levels of our building are currently not accessible to guests with limited mobility. This event will take place on the ground floor.

About Etta:

Etta Sandry is an artist, educator, and facilitator from the midwestern United States, currently based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. Her material-focused research is rooted in fibre and weaving and spans media through sculpture, writing, and installation. Etta completed her MFA in the Fibre & Material Practices program at Concordia University in the spring of 2021. She has exhibited her work in the United States and Canada and was the 2022 Experimental Weaver in Residence at the Unstable Design Lab in Boulder, Colorado where she ran her first Sampling Club.Etta has recently worked as a board member at articule in Montreal and as a volunteer staff in ACRE Residency’s fibre studio in Wisconsin.