Cloth and Culture Now Exhibition Review
Cloth and Culture Now is an exhibition of modern Textile Artists work from the Baltic States, Japan and the UK and is well worth taking the time to see
Firstly something about the venue, The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts is a fascinating building (though unprepossessing from the outside) designed by Norman Foster and opened in 1978. The centre houses an interesting permanent collection and has recently been home to some inspirational touring exhibitions. The Sainsbury Centre is situated at the far side of the UEA campus and there are pleasant walks nearby and good coffee and restaurant facilities. On the day I visited parking was difficult but the exhibition was enough of a pleasant distraction that I forgot the hassle very quickly. The exhibition is in two parts on the main floor and down the external ramp (which I much prefer to the vertiginous spiral staircase) to the new display space
There is work from Estonia Finland Japan Latvia Lithuania and the United Kingdom.
Hand and machine methods are used and the pieces vary between structural installations and more traditional forms of textile presentation. Often undefined but sometimes vividly expressed through the artworks is the tragedy of the last century’s conflicts and their effects on vanishing folk culture.
All these communities have strong folk traditions and it was interesting that themes the textile arts expressed were not always obviously nationalistic. There were pieces, which I knew before I read the label were from a particular culture and others where they could have come from the east or the west. All have (I think) a northern feel to them; the British pieces are largely in subdued muddy colours. Comparisons have been made between the different aspects of class-consciousness and politeness in Japan and Britain. Finland Estonia Latvia and Lithuania all border the Baltic Sea and lie between Sweden and Russia and it could be argued that there is a search for a new national identity through the reinterpretation of folk tradition shown in many of the textile pieces. The illustrations with this article show some of the large architectural installations.
There was a wide range of techniques including the use of some unusual materials and much of my pleasure in the exhibition was in the “how was it done” examination of pieces. A piece that impressed me very much was by Masaaki Tate. The pattern is made with dye wax and pulled thread it really does not photograph and was very simple and effective. Another deceptively simple piece is the button leaves which are by Mitsuo Toyazki They set the sense of domestic and mundane against the strong visual pleasure of the design while not strictly textile certainly were fun to see. For me it is that conflict between utilitarian and artistic interpretation that makes textiles so interesting a visual medium and this is very cleverly explored by Severiha Incirauskaite-Krianeviciene who works cross stitch patterns on found objects. She is critical of the created folksy identity but also wants to add value to everyday thrown away items. Katrin Petri whose work has hand stitches worked on layers of fabric on a large scale says “ I sometimes think I have to find a new way of working, and when I turn back to my stitching I realise that this is the way I am happiest working, this is what I can do and is best for the work”
The exhibition is well laid out and beautifully lit which I think is very important for textiles so that they retain their textural quality. There are no activities for kids and there is no additional of interactivity in the exhibition itself. It is simply a very stricking visual experience.
The exhibition leaves the Sainsbury Centre on June the 1st and goes to Manchester.
Useful web links
Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts
Monday, 3 March 2008
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