Textile art uncovered

THE art of quilting – or quilt as art – is just one exhibition in the international Structures in Cloth show. The others are Japanese Kimono and Japanese Ikebana.Read More
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The art of quilting – or quilt as art – is just one exhibition in the international Structures in Cloth show. The others are Japanese Kimono and Japanese Ikebana.
TEXTILE art – ranging from quilts to kimonos – will be the focus of an exhibition featuring artists from all around South Africa and the rest of the world, to be held at the Sandton Art Gallery in Nelson Mandela Square from 11 November.

The exhibitionAurora Africanis by Roy Starke“These contemporary fibre artworks explore concerns common to the whole range of visual arts, while retaining, through material or technique, a relationship to the folk art quilt from which they descended,” says South African quilter Jenny Hearn, who is involved in the exhibition.

Featured under the banner of one exhibition titled Structures in Cloth will be three separate displays. This is a Quilt is the first, done by Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), which is an international non-profit organisation set up to promote the art of quilting. It has approximately 2 700 members globally.

According to the SAQA website, 268 members competed to produce work that would showcase their talents in a variety of styles, techniques and fibres for a travelling “trunk show”. Of these, 44 quilts were selected and will travel the world between 2011 and 2013.

Seven trunks will transport the quilts – giving the name “trunk show”. After the exhibition ends in 2013, the Kresge Art Museum at Michigan State University in the United States will become the home of the quilts.

SAQA was established in 1989 by the American artist, Yvonne Porcella, who felt there was a need to recognise the impact of art quilts in contemporary fine art. She sent out 50 letters to artists and friends to garner their support, and the organisation was born.

Its main aims were: to promote art quilts to major art publications, museums and galleries; to educate the public about quilts as art; to serve as a platform for the development of professional quilt artists; and to act as a resource for curators, consultants, art dealers and students, among others.

Japanese
Kimonos Unlimited is the second exhibition on display at the Sandton Art Gallery; it will be staged by Fibreworks, a South African group formed in 1997 to celebrate textile and fibre arts.

The artworkPod 1 by Kim TedderAs its name suggests, the exhibition will examine and challenge people’s views on the Japanese item of clothing, the kimono. It features 21 entries from 13 artists. “They investigate both the technical and conceptual aspects of the kimono, wearable or not, in whatever type of fibre and technique,” says Hearn.

Fibreworks comprises about 50 artists, of which Hearn is one. “Fibreworks aims to promote fibre/textile as a serious art form, providing intellectual stimulation and emotional support for its members," reads its website.

Japanese Ikebana is the final exhibition in the show. Ikebana refers to the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is regarded as a highly disciplined art form in which the arrangement is a living thing in which nature and humanity combine.

In this exhibition, artists Marilyn Giannada and Victor Reed “explore the possibilities of this art form when combined with textiles”, says Hearn.

Structures in Cloth will run at the Sandton Art Gallery until 25 November. The gallery is open from 10.30am to 3.50pm from Tuesdays to Fridays, and from 9.30am to 1pm on Saturdays. It is closed on Sundays and Mondays.