Last Call for Across Australia Catalogues

Sorry about the no photos- I can't load them from here so after I get back to Cairo tonight I shall be posting quite a lot of photos!

Ok I have two more days in Cairo and then head onto Dubai. The Across Australia catalogues I have left are too heavy to carry home in light of the textile treasures that have found their way into my suitcase. So this is your last chance to buy them. Email me on dcevaal@gmail.com or dcevaal@hotmail.com if you would like one. Cost inclusive of airmail from Cairo is $25 Aus, $20 US, 20 euros or 12 ounds sterling.

Also here is part of my report regarding the reception of the exhibtion in Syria
The quilts have been well received in Syria. In Damascus the DeputyMinister of Culture opened the exhibition and spent more than an houradmiring the exhibition , and was most complimentary about the work.Thevenue Khan Assad Pasha was spectacular- it is a 18th century caravanserai.Many of the leading artists and university fine arts lecturers were inattendance and continued to attend over the four days it was open. Jennyand I were invited to also deliver a lecture to the faculty of Fine Artsat Damascus University the day after the exhibition finished about thework and everyone was so enthusiastic. One thing we have noticed is theamount of time taken to study each and every quilt- and the enthusiasmwith which people respond- and I would say as many men if not more haveattended the exhibition as women.This is a country where people areknowledgeable about textiles and where men and women have a tangiblecultural connection with textiles and aren't afraid to show it.Sculptorshave responded to the textural possibilities and the tactile elements and others are responding to pattern and have been inspired to think of newways of responding to their own traditional patterns.They all without fail,thank you the artists, for letting your work come to their country.Likewise the response in Allepo has been enthusiastic and the setting wasa gallery belonging to the art academy. Allepo is the modern textilecapital of Syria so again people are knowledgeable about textiles. Openingnight had people spilling down the stairs of the gallery and cataloguesran out as they were in high demand. Fashion designers have come to lookat our treatment of fabric as well as other well known artists.The next leg is Kuwait the week after next. We are still negotiating othervenues in the region and Abu Dhabi now looks set.e exhibition in Syria.