Unbound: Visionary Women Collecting Textiles tells the story of seven pioneering women who went against all established norms to create some of the richest, most diverse and global public collections in the UK today.

Textiles and costume give us a beautiful and intensely human insight into our history. Unbound: Visionary Women Collecting Textiles celebrates seven women who saw beyond the purely functional, to reveal the extraordinary artistic, social and cultural importance of textiles. From the exquisite anthropological collections of traditional Balkan costume by Edith Durham, to the ground-breaking contemporary South Asian collection of Nima Poovaya-Smith, these women defied the ‘traditional’ concept of collecting – an activity still more often associated with men – and forged the way for textiles as crucial documents of social history as well as works of art in their own right.

This major collaborative project explores the innovative approaches of Edith Durham (1863 – 1944), Louisa Pesel (1870 – 1947), Olive Matthews (1887 – 1979), Enid Marx (1902 – 1998), Muriel Rose (1897 – 1986), Jennifer Harris (working 1982 – 2016 at the Whitworth, University of Manchester) and Nima Poovaya-Smith (Senior Keeper International Arts 1985 – 1998, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford), and presents the objects from a previously unexplored perspective, that of the female collector.

Unbound: Visionary Women Collecting Textiles includes sculptural 18th-century costume, intricately embroidered Balkan towels, headdresses and waistcoats, the 1920s and 1930s block printed fabrics of Barron and Larcher, as well as contemporary works: Alice Kettle’s huge machine embroidered panels Three Caryatids (1989 – 91), Yinka Shonibare’s 2007 copy of the last slave ship The Wanderer reimagined with ‘African’ batik fabric sails and Sarbjit Natt’s 1996 geometric patterned silk sari. These sit alongside archival photographs, sketchbooks and letters, many of which have never been shown in public. The exhibition looks at how these collections continue to influence us today and asks why textiles still have to fight for their place amongst the more established visual arts.

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Over Under : Under Over
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Upper Galleries
Dates: 22nd December – January 30th 2020

Exploring Weave in its widest context. Presented by the Cordis Trust.

The Cordis Trust are presenting a special exhibition in conjunction with Visual Arts Scotland at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. Over Under : Under Over explores weave in its widest context through the work of six contemporary artists.

The work of Elizabeth Ashdown, Celia Pym, Dail Behennah, Sue Lawty, Sarah Jane Henderson and Sadhvi Jawa have been brought together in order to explore the wider applications of the woven form.

Cordis states:
‘Straying from their usual adherence to the traditional principles of woven Gobelin tapestry, this project aims to explore the wider applications of the woven form. Cordis have selected six artists whose work is constructed in a similar way to tapestry, or whose techniques resonate with the principles of weaving, whether that be through the interlacing of materials or of repetitive gesture’.

Text & Images: Elizabeth Ashdown/Cordis

SOAS is hosting an exquisite exhibition at their Brunei Gallery of African Textiles from the Karun Thakar Collection,  arguably one of the world’s largest private collections of African textiles. Featuring high quality material, that highlights the sophistication of historical African textiles art and design, which have been little understood and appreciated, the exhibition will examine the links between west and north African textile traditions through a selection of important and rare examples of textile art, being shown here for the first time.

The exhibition  includes a selection of over 150 exhibits and textiles from west and north Africa including Morocco, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Mali, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon.

Further details on the Karun Collection can be found by visiting http://www.karuncollection.com/ follow on Instagram @karuncollection and more of the African Textiles Collection can be seen in the book ‘African Textiles’ published by Prestel, 2015.

Closing Date: Dec 14th 2019 5.00pm

Exhibition supported by: HALI Magazine

Text: taken from SOAS.Photograph:Philippa Brock