3rd European textile and Fibre Art Festival - Catalogue

A short overview of the exhibition:
A powerful metaphor for the theme of globalisation
is the work ”Made in Norway” of
Aud Baekkelund (Norway): a large number
of clothing labels, stitched and constituting
a white background, on which black labels
have been stitched in the form of a cross.
The texts on the labels are significant: made
in China, made in Bangladesh, made in
Portugal… made in Norway.
The small work by Theresa Neuhuber (Austria)
seems to literally visualise the theme of
global intrigue: the terrestrial globe, embedded
in an embroidery frame. It looks like a
refined ornament, executed in a meticulous
handicraft technique. Possibly a commentary
on mass production, handicraft versus industry,
local versus global?
The world of top industrialists like BASF, Coca
Cola, Shell and Bayer, which shook on its
foundations on 9.11, is the subject matter
of the machine-embroidered work ”United
Colours of Capitalism” by Irene Anton
(Germany). A similar theme, the fiscal paradises
as they are situated in the world, is
broached by Marit Helen Akslen of Norway
in blood-red, gossamer-thin stitches on
white men’s collars, at the same time referring
to the laundering of money by ”white
collar criminals”.
That this world is characterised by wars and
persecution is visualised by some of the
artists. The Finnish artist Sunna Maaria
Kangas presents a moving picture of a
young child grasping a lattice, with a blazing
sea of flames behind her. Her work is entitled
”Outsiders”.
Carol Westfall (USA) made a fabric on which
against a threatening sky chimneys spew
their gases, thereby referring to the Shoah,
extermination camps like Auschwitz and
Treblinka. With his presentation of fleeing
Mexicans climbing fences on the border
between America and Mexico, Victor de la
Rosa (USA) comments on American society.
Silja Puranen (Finland) is interested in the relation
between the individual and generally
accepted social norms, the idea of the perfect
human. She purposely uses textile
because from times immemorial this material
is associated with women.
An exhilarating work in tapestry technique is
from the hands of Annika Ekdahl (Sweden),
entitled ”Theatre in the park”. With this
time-consuming technique the artist has created
a weird and wonderful image of various
colourful individuals, animals and attributes,
sociably together and grouped around
an immense tree.
This exhibition, with its broad range of works
mirroring a corresponding number of
visions, ideas and convictions concerning the
theme ”global intrigue”, will certainly offer
the visitor plenty of material for reflection.
Caroline Boot. Dr.
Curator Art and Design,
Textile Museum Tilburg
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