Embroidery, weaving and fabric decoration have often been dismissed as crafts rather than arts, relegated to “women’s work”. But a series of exhibitions this summer casts new light on the political power and importance of textiles in all their forms, from Brexit tea towels to dresses embellished with symbolic patterns.
Palestinian embroidery is the focus of the exhibition Material Power at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, and its evolution from tradition to a form of political protest. Threads is a group show at Bristol’s Arnolfini that covers postcolonialism, migration and gender in its displays of weaving, knitting and stitching – including work by artists Anya Paintsil and Raisa Kabir.
