Descrizione

Paperback. 4to. (28 x 24 cm). In English and Turkish. 236 p., color ills. The event of a thread: Global narratives in textiles.= Iplikten çözülmeler: Tekstilde küresel anlatilar. [Exhibition catalogue]. 'The Event of a Thread' brings together 25 international contemporary artists, who use textile to create aesthetic and cultural narratives through objects, installations and video works. The title of the exhibition is a quotation from On Weaving (1965), the reference book by Anni Albers, one of the most important artists from the Bauhaus textile workshops. Albers believed that socio-cultural and economic activities impacted textiles, and stated that 'Just as it is possible to go from any place to any other, so also, starting from a defined and specialized field, can one arrive at a realization of ever-extending relationships. Thus tangential subjects come into view.?' According to Albers, one could discover 'the event of a thread"' at the root of each development. In the exhibition, weaving threads are utilized as a metaphor, which facilitate the interaction of weaving styles, stories and production techniques from different cultures, and mediate the development of new connections between them. Organized in collaboration with the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa, Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), one of the oldest art institutions in Germany, the exhibition is curated by Susanne Weiss and Inka Gressel on the invitation of ifa and aims to build on the original selection by creating new connections in each institution the exhibition travels to, with the assistance of curators at each institution and the addition of new works from local artists. 'The Event of a Thread' brings together a variety of stories ranging from the tradition of quipu used by ancient Andean cultures in South America to the textile techniques from the indigenous people of Wichi in Argentine and from Bedri Rahmi Eyüboglu's revival and adoption of the long-forgotten tradition of yazma (originally used for hand-painted kerchief) to Burhan Dogançay's tapestries created at the Aubusson workshops. The exhibition focuses on the historical, social and cultural meanings of fabrics, investigates the various uses of textile as a tool of expression and brings together different artistic positions that interact with one another within the exhibition space.