International Call for Submissions: World of Threads Festival 2026-27

Artists and Curators at World of Threads Festival 2023-24, Amorphous exhibition. Photo: Gareth Bate and Albert Fuchigami.

Call for Submissions: World of Threads Festival 2026-27

Deadline: Saturday, February 28, 2026, at 11:59pm EST
Website Submissions Page

We’re excited to see your new work!

Artists from around the world are invited to submit bodies of work, installations or individual pieces to the World of Threads Festival 2026-27. The Festival is organized and curated by mother and son team Dawne Rudman and Gareth Bate. They draw from the pool of submissions to create different thematic group exhibitions as well as dozens of solo shows and installations. The Festival will be at our usual venue Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. The entire building will be filled with exhibitions.

We are open to submissions of artwork that have been made between April 2023 and January 2026. For full Submissions info and application form check out our website. Be sure to read through the page and application form carefully.

The World of Threads Festival is a leading international showcase of contemporary fibre and textile art. We are a not-for-profit initiative with charitable status run by a few dedicated volunteers and paid contractors. Festival 2023-24 attracted more than 80,000 visitors. Admission is Free.

Some of the most exciting and compelling artwork being made today is happening in the field of fibre and textile arts. Through our initiatives since 1994, we have discovered some remarkable artists and brought them to the attention of Canadian and international audiences. In 2023 the World of Threads Festival received the People’s Choice Award from Ontario Culture Days Spotlight Recognition Program, recognizing the exceptional achievements and outstanding accomplishments of the Festival.

Our brand new website features documentation of all our exhibitions and artworks from Festivals 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2023-24. The best place to start is with our Artwork Greatest Hits.

Since we are representing the world of fibre and textile art, we are willing to exhibit individual artists from all countries. We acknowledge the State of Palestine. World of Threads Festival artists do not represent nations, but rather are in solidarity as artists of the world. We encourage First Nations, Inuit, Métis and other global Indigenous artists to apply.

During the Festival we make a lot of effort to connect the artists for networking opportunities with each other. This is a great opportunity to meet fellow fibre artists from around the world in person.

Next Festival Dates:

• Festival Starts: Wednesday, September 23, 2026
• Opening Reception: Saturday, September 26, 2026
• Last Day: Sunday, January 17, 2027

Flow exhibition in World of Threads Festival 2018 and Installations in Festival 2023-24. Photo: Gareth Bate.

Curators since 2012:

• Chair & Festival Curator: Dawne Rudman
• Festival Curator: Gareth Bate

Synchronistic Curating:
Something that’s different about World of Threads Festival is that we let the art guide us. Festival curators Gareth Bate and Dawne Rudman don’t have predetermined curatorial ideas or impose their concepts on the artists. Each new festival is a blank slate. Group shows develop entirely out of the submissions we receive. To find our main gallery exhibitions we look for connections, relationships and common themes among the thousands of artworks submitted. These works are made by hundreds of artists from around the world. Often artists seem to be on the same wavelength during a particular period. Over time, through many hours of sorting through artworks, the exhibition themes just emerge and become clear to us.

It’s important for artists to understand that we do not plan to have themes in advance, and so we cannot ask you to submit work based on the theme that we ultimately decide on. There is an element of luck when it comes to the main gallery exhibition because the show develops as we look at the artwork. Take a leap of faith. Your art may be relating to someone in another country and could inspire an entire exhibition. We have used this curatorial method since 2012. It has been very successful and resulted in compelling and unique exhibitions every time.

The Red and The Black exhibition in World of Threads Festival 2014 and the exhibition Cosmic Geometry in Festival 2016. Photo: Gareth Bate.

What Counts as Fibre Art?
That’s a good question. Fibre art is incredibly diverse and our definition is continuously shifting. We’re open-minded. Our website has hundreds of examples of fibre artwork. Generally fibre art is made from perishable materials that use traditional techniques that include, stitchery, tapestry and paper-making.

We have exhibited a huge variety of techniques and media, including:
Sculpture, installation, quilting, weaving and tapestry, embroidery, hooking, knitting, lace making, crochet, felting, beading, assemblage, coiling, mixed media, thread painting, soft sculpture, wearable art, basketry, sprang, paper-cut, fibre collage, organic materials, stitch relief, quilling, recycled materials and works using paper. The paper must have been manipulated in some way.

“Fibre Inspired”
These days, artists are using synthetic materials or materials that have nothing to do with fibre but use sewing or weaving techniques. We call this “fibre inspired” and we’re totally open to experimental approaches. This is a term we coined to encompass artworks that use the techniques, forms, aesthetic or history of fibre arts but are not made from traditional soft or perishable fibre materials. This could include any material such as bronze, wire, paint and plastic manipulation. These works “evoke” fibre or textiles in some way.

Unfortunately, we do not have the tech capability to exhibit video or sound work. Performance also doesn’t work in this context.

Previous festivals have featured artists from the following countries:
Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Channel Islands-Guernsey, China, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, United States, Wales.

Festival Website: worldofthreadsfestival.com
Contact Email: Dawne Rudman, dawne@worldofthreadsfestival.com
Updates: Join our Email List
Social Media: Instagram | Facebook

Mailing Address:
World of Threads Festival
c/o Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre
2302 Bridge Road
Oakville, ON L6L 2G6, Canada