It is impossible to imagine human life without textiles. They not only reflect cultural traditions and social currents, they were also important sources of inspiration for the development of artistic modernism and pioneers of industrial design. More recently, the view of textiles – their material, their patterns, and the way they are made – has changed. It is not only well-known female artists such as Anni Albers who have finally been given the place in public perception that was long denied to textile art, which was often devalued as “feminine”. A new approach to materials, their design and the cultures in which they are rooted has also taken hold in design. With the exhibition “Textile Worlds” the “Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum” at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, Germany, from July 21 to October 3, is spotlighting textiles spanning some 200 years, most of which come from the museum’s rich holdings. The exhibition, according to the announcement, “reflects on the one hand the diverse uses, designs and developments in textiles, and on the other hand documents the history of the museum’s textile collection as well as its collection focal points.”
Works from the Arts and Crafts movement, the Munich Bund, the Bauhaus and Modernism are on display alongside molas from Panama, Moroccan carpets, war carpets from Afghanistan and European textiles from the 1950s to the present. Around 180 textile exhibits unfold a broad spectrum of carpets and murals, fabrics, industrial goods and unique pieces, pattern books, experiments and textile innovations. The show is oriented around four thematic focal points: “Interdisciplinary Perspectives” shows the interweaving of the disciplines of design, handicrafts and art; the “Global Narratives” section deals with interactions between pictorial traditions within and outside Europe, while “Textiles and Space” focuses on new three-dimensional structures that can be modular or flexible. And the “Innovative Developments” section looks at forward-looking materials and techniques. The designer and artist Ayzit Bostan developed the textile furnishings for the show “Textile Worlds”; the textile lighting system “Plusminus” was designed by Diez Office.
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