Softly Spoken: An exhibition of contemporary textiles

Softly Spoken: An exhibition of contemporary textiles | Main Gallery

3 August - 3 November 2019

Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua or more commonly said, ‘ka mua ka muri’, is an idea of time where past and present are intertwined.

In fibre, past and present co-exist. Textile art spans new and old worlds and is, perhaps more than any other art form, defined by both its links to its archaic history and its powerful radical potential in the present.

And because of the histories inherent in the work, especially in relation to women’s labour and that of non-western peoples, art concerned with fibre is irrevocably tied to the socio-political narratives of the materials and processes used by the work’s maker.

Perhaps it is also this legacy, which is distinctly interdisciplinary and non-hierarchical, that has enabled textile art to extend beyond its histories fulfilling its potential as a sculptural medium. In that vein, this show is concerned with cloth, thread and fibre art that is not an end point but a way to communicate larger ideas, emotions, and messages.