Threads of community

Threaded magazine has been part of the creative ecosystem of Aotearoa New Zealand for two decades. The chunky, audacious Z-fold binding of this special edition, no. 21, demonstrates an ambitious approach, which the editorial team calls ‘culturally connected’, showing local projects alongside selected contributions from around the world. Type design, textiles, painting, graphics, sound and movement (using AR via a QR code) are thrown into a bubbling mix whose scope was inspired by what its makers call the ‘multi-dimensional notions within the Māori creation narrative.’

The Covid-19 pandemic, and the questions it prompted worldwide, informed Threaded 21’s design and content. Design Director Kyra Clarke says: ‘Paper from Fedrigoni landed in our port and conversations with cultural advisors seeded the potential for the concept which supported an expansion from printed matter into AR-animated sonic experience.’ It is far more international than previous editions, a direction that Clarke attributes to the ‘Māori world-view that we exist as an extension on the family tree of the universe.’

The double magazine begins with a celebration of paper, follows on with exciting work by four recent graduates, and then buckles down to devote eight pages to each of seven ‘featured practitioners’, including Auckland-based book designer Katie Kerr, British educator Derek Yates and illustrator Tatiana Tavares, whose work is based around the concept of the ‘Wunderkammer’ or cabinet of curiosities. Turn Threaded 21 around in your hands and there are seven more articles. These include ĀKAU’s typographic artworks on the streets of Kaikohe, Studio FM Milano (Italy), the ‘Pantybag Collective’ and a visual diary by noted designer James Goggin of Practise, the studio he runs with his wife Shan James.

Clarke describes Threaded as both ‘practice-based research’ and a ‘knowledge-sharing ecosystem’, adding that it is ‘an alternative exhibition venue, an interview platform and a show-and-tell stage for creative practitioners.’ No. 22 will follow soon.