This year, Cocol is once again hosting Madrid Mes Textil, an initiative of the Association for Textile Creation that was born with the vocation to talk, think and work on textiles, the ancestral knowledge that surrounds them, their cultural expressions and the challenges they face in contemporary society.
Experiences
Wool4Life: Feel the wool
Thursday 27th from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
A tasting experience perfectly paired with wool, crafts, cheese, and wine. Each strand reveals its territorial origin, its texture, its history, and its symbolic power, offering the public an immersion into the very soul of wool. Inspired by the ritual of gastronomic tastings, this experience proposes a journey through the four major wool lineages that structure Spain's ovine biodiversity: Merino, Churro, Entrefino, and Foráneo/Insular.
Through cards that combine technical description, gustatory metaphors and poetic sensibility, participants discover how each type of wool reflects a landscape, a material culture and a way of relating to the environment, always accompanied by a gastronomic selection in tune with each territory.
Price: €70
Book your place - adriana.cagigas@wool4.life
Traces of thread: a study of the Galician rural world through the creations of its women
Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th from 11:00 to 14:30 (7 hours)
What we are proposing these days is not a seminar, a workshop, or even a lecture. Starting with the linen and wool bedspread as a fundamental piece of traditional Galician rural trousseau, we will create a working and research group to delve deeper into its meaning and collectively construct its context.
We invite you to a hands-on experience with original textile creations to unravel all that these pieces tell us about the Galician countryside and the women who created them. We will spin, card, and weave fringes, and work with books, pieces, fibers, and fabrics.
The activity will be taught and led by Manuel Rodríguez Calviño. Manuel is Galician, an archaeologist and researcher, and an expert in domestic production systems in Galicia. He is the creator of the project: “TECEDEIRAS: arte e talento na sombra” (Weavers: Art and Talent in the Shadows), which focuses on highlighting Galician weavers as great artistic creators.
Price: €180
Booking and more information - hola@cocolmadrid.es
Sábado: Contextualización
Partiremos de una mesa de trabajo sobre la que expondremos fibras en distintas fases de transformación, herramientas, textiles, bibliografía, citas textuales de entrevistas de campo, fotografías, etc, que nos ayuden a reflexionar en conjunto sobre el contexto histórico y social, sus protagonistas, sus condiciones de vida, sus técnicas y herramientas, el vocabulario, los términos y definiciones. Identificaremos algunas fibras y aprenderemos a transformarlas y convertirlas en hilo.
- Contextualización histórica. La producción textil en Galicia.
- Textil y autosuficiencia en el rural.
- Sistemas de organización rural, los trabajos de ayuda mutua.
- Funcionalidad, estética y relación social. Trabajo y diversión.
- El papel de la mujer en los procesos de transformación.
- Las fibras y su transformación. Manipulación de fibras (carcado e hilado). La organización de los procesos como sistema de ordenación del trabajo.
- Las herramientas y los procesos: usos y vocabulario.
Domingo: Reflexión conjunta y conclusiones
Partiremos del estudio y análisis directo de los textiles que llenarán el espacio, elegidos previamente para que sean significativos desde el punto de vista técnico, geográfico, de la composición decorativa y de su intrahistoria. Reflexionaremos desde la percepción de los mismos, tanto de manera individual como de forma conjunta. Analizaremos cada pieza y elaboraremos fichas de reflexión siguiendo la información que los hilos de los tejidos nos aportan.
- Tecedeiras/tejedoras. Sistemas de organización de una profesión.
- Ámbito de trabajo y contexto social.
- Trabajo femenino/ámbito doméstico/ámbito rural.
- Las herramientas y la materia prima a través de las creaciones textiles. Evolución histórica.
- Los tintes.
- La estructura y formato de los tejidos condicionada por las características de las herramientas
- Composiciones decorativas y motivos.
- El color y la variedad compositiva y decorativa como elementos definitorios.
- La creación textil en el ámbito doméstico como forma de expresión artística individual, que a su vez representa la
capacidad artística de una comunidad patrimonial.
Events
Open conversation with Wool4Life
Thursday, June 6th, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Wool4Life presents itself as an initiative that intertwines research, design, and sustainability to recover the value of transhumant wool and all the local wools found throughout Spain. Their work stems from respect for the rhythms of the landscape and the communities that inhabit it, with the aim of imagining new forms of creation based on care, coherence, and emotion, all rooted in artisanal heritage.
New perspectives on the use and revaluation of Spanish wool in rural areas and special sale of pieces and limited editions of the brand.
Free access with confirmation to hola@cocolmadrid.es
Traces of thread: exhibition
Friday 28th from 13:00 to 20:00
Saturday 29th from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM
We invite you to the exhibition at COCOL of traditional Galician quilts belonging to the collection of the archaeologist, researcher and popularizer Manuel Rodriguez Calviño.
Discover the linen and wool bedspread as a fundamental piece of the traditional Galician rural trousseau and enjoy an authentic immersive and real experience. Come and discover these pieces full of symbolism and meaning, belonging to the traditional Galician trousseau.
Free access in the back room of Cocol
Textile Market
Friday 14th and Saturday 15th from 11:00 to 20:00
Sunday 16th from 11:00 to 15:00
In the back room of Cocol you can discover the proposals of creators who work with wool, silk and natural dyes.
Jimena Zalles A world of animals, landscapes and magical beings created with wool felt.
Luisa Guardo Weaver of shawls made of wool, silk, and alpaca.
Paz Mesa creates natural textiles inspired by the light of her native Asturias. She is one of the finalists for this year's National Craft Awards.
Dehesa Lana Wool garments and accessories made using various techniques.
Berit Hals Handkerchiefs and fans of painted silk
Workshops
Lala of God
History and processes of natural dyes
Friday 21st from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
We will learn, step by step, the art of natural dyeing: washing, mordanting, dyeing, cleaning, and preservation, and we will explore how each process influences the final result. Participants will work with swatches and dyed samples to create their own color swatch book, a small personal collection that combines knowledge, practice, and tradition.
Workshop taught by Lala de Dios, with more than 40 years of teaching and creative experience in loom weaving techniques, natural dyes and wool processing at her Indigo Textile Studio workshop.
Price: €110 (materials included)
Book your place - laladedios@indigotextil.com /
+34 658 059 627
Jimena Zalles
Soap felting workshop
Saturday 22nd from 12:00 to 13:30
Discover the magic of combining nature and creativity by crafting felted soaps with sheep's wool. A unique experience where you'll learn to wrap and decorate soaps with natural wool, transforming them into soft, exfoliating, and decorative pieces.
A relaxing workshop where wool and soap are transformed into small handcrafted treasures.
Price: €30
Reservation of place - jzallesv@hotmail.com
Luisa Guardo
From fiber to fabric
Saturday 22nd from 4:00 PM to 8:30 PM
For four hours we will go through the complete process that transforms wool into fabric.
We will learn how to prepare, comb, card and spin the fiber, and then weave it on a frame, understanding how the weft is constructed and how to read weaving charts to create different weaves.
Each participant will take home their own yarn and tapestry, and will also be able to choose between a frame or a spindle to continue working at home.
An experience to reconnect with materials from their origin, understand the logic of the loom, and enjoy the slow rhythm of textile making. You can see Luisa's work on her website .
Price: €110
To reserve your place - idemdelienzo@outlook.com
Marga Morais
Repair by embroidering
Sunday 23rd from 11:30 to 14:30
We'll learn that clothes can be repaired and given new life with a few simple techniques. We'll give a new lease on life to our clothes that would otherwise be discarded.
Repairing is patience, love, recycling, concentration, and awareness.
Price: €75
Book your place - zurcirhistorias@gmail.com
