Kresna Dara Valečič

Kresna is an Italian-Slovenian wool researcher and crafter with a background in Conservation Biology, living in Karst. In 2023 she attended the Summer wool course in Abruzzo (Italy) where she learner to process wool from start to finish - washing a raw fleece, spinning the wool, knitting, weaving etc. In 2024 she had her first exibition as a young crafter at Rokodelski center Škofja Loka and in September 2024 she was accepted to the AlpTextyles weaving school in Monno (Italy). Kresna is currently researching the issue of discarded wool which is a big environmental issue, not only in Slovenia, but in all of Europe. She's talking to many local sheep farmers and rural crafters. Apart from research, she also runs her own small brand of handmade clothes made with responsibly sourced wool. During her residency at Center Rog she would love to develop samples for her future new pieces with her hand spun slovenian wool which is very scratchy and often considered as a "waste", although it is still very useful for home textiles. For Kresna it is greatly important to use responsibly sourced local wool. That way we protect native sheep breeds, care for the well being of shepherds and mantain fragile ecosystems like the dry karstic grasslands or alpine meadows.