Ancient Andean Textiles

Cleveland Museum of Art Cleveland, OH, United States

As part of the museum’s Galleries of the Ancient Americas, this rotation features textiles from the Paracas people of Peru’s south coast between about 3000 BCE and the early 1500s CE. These ancient Andean weavers created one of the world’s most distinguished textile traditions in both artistic and technical terms. Most artistically elaborate Andean textiles […]

Washi Transformed: New Expressions in Japanese Paper

Bellevue Art Museum Bellevue, WA, United States

Washi, which translates to “Japanese paper” has been integral to Japanese culture for over a thousand years. The strength, translucency, and malleability of this one-of-a-kind paper have made it extraordinarily versatile as well as ubiquitous. Despite the increased mechanization of papermaking in Japan over the last century, contemporary Japanese artists have turned to washi to […]

Anni Albers: In Thread and On Paper

Blanton Museum of Art Austin, TX, United States

Anni Albers (1899–1994) is considered the most important textile artist of the 20th century. Known for her wall hangings, weavings, and designs, she was also an innovative educator and printmaker.  This exhibition highlights how nimbly Albers moved between mediums—including her shift from weaving to printmaking in the 1960s—and transitioned between making art and designing functional and […]

Mixed Media: Woven Abstractions of Berber Woman

Alberto Levi Gallery Milano, Italy

Alberto Levi Gallery. Mixed Media: Woven Abstractions of Berber Women. Online exhibition. Milano, Italy. This online exhibition of Berber woven art is an expression of the sheer ingenuity and versatility of rugs woven with varied materials and motifs. The last two decades of the previous millennium have witnessed the arrival on the Moroccan scene of previously […]

Resist: Tie Dye Practices from Around the World

Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado

Resist dyeing is a magical process. Patterns and images are revealed after a complex series of folds, ties, binds, and dyes. Scholars believe that these practices may have developed independently in cultures across the world. This exhibition explores the diverse practices of tie dye from Japan, Indonesia, India, Uzbekistan, Nigeria, Guatemala, and Peru, amongst others.

Irresistible: The Global Patterns of Ikat

The Textile Museum, George Washington University Washington D.C.

Prized worldwide for producing vivid patterns and colors, the ancient resist-dyeing technique of ikat developed independently in communities across Asia, Africa, and the Americas, where it continues to inspire artists and designers today. This exhibition explores the global phenomenon of ikat textiles through more than 70 masterful examples from countries as diverse as Japan, Indonesia, India, Uzbekistan, Côte d'Ivoire, and […]

Threaded Visions: Contemporary Weavings from the Collection

Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, IL, United States

Weaving—it’s a familiar term, a millennia-old art form, and a technique used across the world. This exhibition of thirteen contemporary artists from five countries explores the beautiful diversity of the ancient and global practice of weaving, the act of making fabric by interlacing threads using a loom. Many of the textiles, created from 1983 to […]

Irresistible: The Global Patterns of Ikat

The Textile Museum, George Washington University Washington D.C.

Prized worldwide for producing vivid patterns and colors, the ancient resist-dyeing technique of ikat developed independently in communities across Asia, Africa, and the Americas, where it continues to inspire artists and designers today. This exhibition explores the global phenomenon of ikat textiles through more than 70 masterful examples from countries as diverse as Japan, Indonesia, […]

Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: de Young Museum

Featuring one of the most iconic collections of 20th- and 21st-century women’s clothing in the United States, this exhibition includes 100 collection highlights, along with local loans of high fashion and haute couture. Showcasing designs from French couturiers, Japanese avant-garde designers, and other pillars of the fashion industry, including Christian Dior, Alexander McQueen, Christopher John Rogers, […]

Ubuhle Women: Beadwork and the Art of Independence

Sordoni Art Gallery at Wilkes University Wilkes Barre, PA, United States

Ubuhle means “beauty” in the Xhosa and Zulu languages. It describes the shimmering quality of light on glass and its special spiritual significance for the Xhosa people. This exhibit features the new form of bead art, the ndwango (“cloth”), is created by a community of women living and working together in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. […]