Spinning threads and weaving them together is one of humankind’s earliest cultural technologies. Just as old is the use of textiles as a form of artistic expression. In particular, colourful tapestries were highly valued for centuries due to their representative character. Woven according to designs of renowned artists, they were used to decorate church interiors, princely residences, public buildings and town houses. When modern classics are translated into this textile medium, what surprising effects emerge? And specifically what kind of potential, even controversial, does this medium open up for contemporary art production?
With a selection of more than fifty tapestries, the exhibition demonstrates the astonishing aesthetic spectrum of this world of threads, offers insight into the historical development of the medium and inquires into its artistic relevance today. The loans include traditional baroque tapestries as well as works based on designs by renowned representatives of the 20th-century avant-garde. Included are important productions of post-war modernism up to international positions of the present. In this way, the colourful threads come together to form unique visual worlds.
The varied exhibition layout leads through all four storeys of the MdbK, linking different artistic epochs. The spacious architecture of the building with its characteristic terraces and wide vistas forms an effective frame of reference for monumental wall hangings and textile installations. Within the galleries, too, the tapestries set numerous accents and enter into an exciting dialogue with works from the museum’s own collection – from medieval panels to digital photography.
An extensive educational programme promises all curious visitors an active exhibition experience. In the “Thread Studio” there is plenty of space for making, playing and experiencing.
The exhibition is organized in cooperation with the collection of the Mobilier national in Paris. It shows works based on designs by Fanja Bouts, Louise Bourgeois, Sonia Delaunay, Max Ernst, Francisco de Goya, Hans Hartung, Wassily Kandinsky, Henri Matisse, Tania Mouraud, Pablo Picasso and many others.
