Pottery and weaving are among the two fields of art we developed globally after invention of settled life. Forms of pottery have been given their place in museums as high art. But I’d never seen textiles used as a medium for contemporary art. So it was eye-opening when, a few years ago, we walked into the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art to look at an interesting exhibition called “The event of a thread: Global narratives in textiles”. The use of textiles in art is not something I’ve seen done systematically. I took photos of some of the pieces I liked, but the exhibition was much bigger.
Ulla von Brandenburg exhibited three quilted fabrics called Flying Geese, Log Cabin, and Drunkard’s Path (featured photo). The artist points out that quilting is not “just women’s work”; they were also used by various revolutionary movements.
Sakir Gökçebag’s piece called Kosmos was a stunning installation using a partially woven carpet. The artist says that the partial work reminds us about the work that goes into the making of a carpet through the parts which remain to be completed.
This painting on a head scarf by Güneş Terkol was called Against the current. The concept was developed during a workshop in Vienna, where several women discussed the slogans to be displayed, and worked together to sew them into the banners held by the painted figures.
Belkis Balpinar’s work entitled Singularities uses weaving as a medium. She says that two planes with singularities of different forms are joined by the vertical threads which are called warps. The horizontal threads are left unwoven. I liked the medium and the strikingly bold visual pattern that was tied together with the threads.
The bulk of this post is taken from an earlier post.
Don't hold your breath 
