Interview We talked with Antal Imola, a linen weaver from Csobotfalv.
A few techniques can be learned for everyday creation in a short time, but weaving is a craft that can be learned for a lifetime, says Antal Imola, a linen weaver who won the Junior Prima and Young Master of Folk Art awards. Over the weekend, the weaver from Csobotfal led the community weaving in Mera for the third time, and we talked about his career and the participants' interest in creation as part of the weaving festival.
Antal Imola was introduced to the different branches of folk art through his parents as a child, and after graduating from high school, he continued his studies at the linen weaving department of the Nádudvar Folk Crafts Vocational High School and College.
"My former master, Teréz Galánfiné Schmidt, who has since been awarded the title of Master of Folk Art, enchanted me so much with weaving that I have been doing it ever since and want to continue. Quote I have always loved being in the company of artisans and creative people, I consider them very special. I discovered a kind of desire for freedom in them, which they experience through their creations, and I wanted to experience this myself"
- said the linen weaver who lives in Csobotfalvá, administratively part of Csíkszereda, to the Krónika's interest. He also wanted to deal with the theoretical part of what he learned at the vocational school in Hungary, so he obtained a degree in ethnography at Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj. In the 2015/2016 academic year, he was a scholarship recipient of the Hungarian Academy of Arts as a young artist, in 2015 he received the Young Master of Folk Art award, and in 2018 he received the Junior Prima award.
"I was interested in many directions before choosing a career, but in the end, this way of life caught my attention the most due to its proximity to nature. In the summer I prefer to be in the company of many people, I love to participate in festivals and camps, and in the winter I prefer to turn inward, weaving and creating at home"
- explained the weaver who runs the community weaving in Méra together with her husband. At the barn festival held on the first weekend of August, this time more than a hundred people sat down in the shade of the walnut tree and wove a few lines, so the scarf, which includes the handiwork of the performers, the audience, musicians and dancers, was completed in almost a day and a half.
The full interview can be read on the Chronicle!
Featured image: Bede Laura/Krónika
