Portuguese textile artist Vanessa Barragão makes vast, richly textured and all-encompassing textile creations resembling the flora and fauna of coral reefs, rendered with the traditional crafts of crochet, hand-tufting, felting, embroidery and macrame. On one hand, she draws our attention to the unfathomably complex wonder of coral reef systems, which she calls “cities at the…
Category Archives: TEXTILES IN COMMUNITY
American quilts, Japanese kimonos, French linen and African strip-weave: these are just a handful of the vintage sourced fabrics that are gathered and upcycled by menswear designer Emily Adams Bode for her eponymous menswear brand Bode. This radical American designer is one of a generation who are transforming the face of the fast-paced fashion industry…
Asafo flags are embedded deep into the history of Ghana, and their legacy lives on today. They are a 3- or 400-year-old tradition from the Fante people of Ghana that has been passed down from one generation to the next since the 17th century. Flag makers throughout this long history have been gradually changing and…
Asafo flags are one of Ghana’s most fascinating historical artefacts, telling vivid, colourful and intimate stories about Ghanaian culture. These vibrant and spirited flags are a 400-year-old tradition of making that has been passed down through one generation to the next, and amazingly, they are still being made today. Older flags act as cultural emblems…
Vivid, striking and bold, Asafo flags are part of a three to four-hundred-year-old history, and they are still being made today. Originating from 17th century Ghana, hand-made Asafo flags are filled with powerful symbols, stories and metaphors. Much like quilts, these flags have often been passed through families from one generation to the next, holding…
Embroidery is deeply entrenched in South American history, spanning from ancient times all the way up to the present day. Its history is fascinatingly diverse, demonstrating the great skill and ingenuity that has been passed on from one generation to the next through the millennia. Over the centuries, South American embroidery has evolved into a…
From Viking Age clothing to Catholic vestments and prestigious royal gowns, European embroidery has a rich history that is closely intertwined with our cultural past. Europe was also a site for embroidery innovation; techniques that were discovered here continue to live on today in the clothes we wear and the ways we decorate our homes….
The art of adorning clothing with embroidery has been an Indian tradition for more than 5,000 years. Its history is deeply embedded into the history of Indian culture, religion and daily life, and it is a tradition that continues to this day. Throughout Indian history embroidery has been there, adorning the homes of ordinary people…
The journey of embroidery in the United States is long and complex, with many twists and turns along the way. It begins with the ancient cultures of Native America, and travels through the 17th century New World, flourishing in the American colonies and remaining a popular pastime in the later cities that emerged. Because of…
Russia, as we now know it, has a long and complex history of embroidery, one going back many hundreds of years. From the gold thread vestments of medieval clergy to the colourful and intricately illustrated clothing of indigenous cultures, Russian embroidery has much to tell us about the nation through the centuries. Far more than…
The roots of embroidery are often traced back to ancient China. It was the Chinese who first began cultivating and producing silk, a magical substance that could be woven into the softest fabrics, or spun into threads as soft and fine as human hair. Some of the very first embroideries were also produced in China…
Embroidery has an incredibly rich and varied history spanning thousands of years, and it is still widespread and popular today. In fact, of all our world’s ancient traditions, it is one of the longest surviving. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised at this epic lifespan – embroidery has the power to entirely transform clothing and fabrics,…
“African-American quilts are not simply a set of colours, techniques, or patterns. They’re a celebration of culture by artists who understand and love it best.” Ellison Langford, Scalawag Magazine, 2019 If anyone word could define today’s flourishing culture of African American quilts, it would be ‘diverse.’ Pattern styles are diverse, ranging from densely worked abstract…
“The best of these designs are so eye-poppingly gorgeous that it’s hard to know how to begin to account for them. But then, good art can never be fully accounted for, just described…” Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, 2002 Brilliantly eccentric and ludicrously inventive, the multi-generational quilts emerging from Boykin, colloquially known as Gee’s Bend,…
By the end of the American Civil War in 1865, quilting was an established practice across African American communities. But as emancipation gradually emerged, so, too did new approaches to quilting, which shifted and adapted to suit the changing times. No one overarching style ruled, but some of the most celebrated quilts of the era…
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